Night of the Living Tennis
by NE1410IS
Summary: Japan has become infested with zombies and the only way to fight them is...WITH TENNIS! R&R (Back from hiatus!)
1. Chapter 1

Nobody liked to play street tennis. It was a dangerous game of life and _death_. Well, not really - it usually ended in some stubborn losers and some sore winners. But either way, the courts weren't maintained and just about anything could happen at them.  
Even the old, rickety Gyokurin middle school's tennis courts were less to be desired, with a sagging net and a deep puddle buzzing with mosquitos ruining the furthest court. Several nondescript black garbage bags lined the stands and the fence creaked whenever a gust of wind blew past. It wasn't necessarily a street court, but nobody had gone to Gyokurin in a long time. Not just anybody played a game around there anymore.  
It was terrible tennis weather, anyway, to be entirely honest. Momoshiro Takeshi, who had already been cautious about going out to play, was feeling pretty stupid for going along with Ryouma Echizen's plan. His kouhai had been itching for a match, and even though Ryuuzaki had explicitly banned them from doing such a thing, they had snuck out anyway.  
"Ryouma," Momo murmured, elbowing his friend. Ryouma looked annoyed. "I'm not too sure about this…"  
"It's just one game," Ryouma said, voice slightly whiny. The kid was really desperate for some tennis. He was a tennis-addict, and Momo thought that he needed to be weaned off the sport, especially with the current…. _circumstances_…  
Momo furrowed his brow. "Well, fine." With a smirk, he threw a ball he had been keeping in his uniform pocket at Ryouma, who fumbled with it in surprise. "Then don't be surprised when you lose!"

They played tamely, as it was the first time they had played in a while. When Ryouma finished the game off with an expert hit, Momo knew it was time for them go head back to Seigaku. He walked over to the net clasping Ryouma's hand in a manly handshake. "Good game."  
"Mada made dane," Ryouma huffed proudly, tipping the brim of his hat low.  
Momo sighed, rolling his eyes. "We should go back now. Ryuuzaki's gonna be mad."  
Ryouma silently agreed, and the duo began to pack up their rackets.  
As Ryouma zipped up the case for his precious racket, he heard a single groan that sent a knowing shiver up his spine. Momo must had heard it too, because the taller boy was tense and staring off in the direction the sound had come from intently, like a prairie dog being spooked out of it's hole.  
"Did you hear that?" Momo said tensely, eyebrows furrowed.  
"Yes," Ryouma muttered, unzipping his racket again.  
As the two boys stood, knees quivering (though Ryouma would deny any quivering activity), the shuffling noise got louder and closer. Momo's hands gripped tighter around his tennis racket. "Man, I'm so not prepared for this. I can't believe you made us come out here."  
Ryouma regretted nothing. "Don't be a coward."  
"It's not cowardly to not want to have your_ face _chewed off. Echizen," Momo grunted.  
The silence between them stunk of a certain catchphrase left unsaid. It made Momo mad. He was so _not _made made dane.  
Before he could tell Ryouma to stop doing that stupid condescendence thing, the chain link fence behind them shook violently, causing both of the boys to jump in fright. A man, dressed in some kind of school uniform, gripped desperately at the fence and pressed his face against it.  
Oh yeah, there were zombies infecting Japan. Seigaku was one of the only groups left that hadn't been hit with the sickness, fyi.  
"Eek" Momo screeched, stumbling away from the boy. The boy's skin tore away from his arm as he shoved it through a gap in the fence. Ryouma's nose wrinkled before the fear kicked in.  
Momo and Ryouma booked it, too spooked by the zombie's appearance. With their bags slamming roughly against their legs, the duo sprinted down the street, away from the school. The footsteps of the zombie stayed in time with theirs, keeping an equal distance between them regardless of how fast they went.  
That was the scary part about these zombies - they weren't all slow, like the movies would have you believe. They were even faster than the fastest runner. Nothing could keep them from their meal - like unsuspecting tennis players.  
This zombie was pretty tame - he hadn't vaulted over the fence to get to them, which was a plus. Normally nothing would keep them from getting to their target.  
Ryouma looked over his shoulder as he and Momo ran, and was disheartened to see that the zombie was still on their trail, his lifeless eyes trained on them expertly. It was hard to get rid of zombies, especially in such an open place. They could hide, but that would invite the zombie to corner them, if he was smart. Ryouma also knew of another way to get rid of the zombie, but…but he wouldn't! He couldn't. He'd never use _tennis _as a weapon…  
Momo had other ideas. Quickly, he produced a tennis ball from his bag and threw it high before slamming that hot serve towards the zombie. It caught the zombie's shoulder, stumbling the monster momentarily. Before long, he was back up, though his left arm was dangling limply behind him as he ran.  
"Dangnabbit," Momo grunted. "That was my last ball."  
"Where did you leave them?" Ryouma said between huffs of breath, knowing that he had left most of his at Seigaku.  
Momo looked sheepish. "At the court…hey, don't look at me like that! We were rushed, I couldn't pick them all up-"  
"Echizen! Momoshiro!" A deep voice boomed, startling the boys. From behind the abandoned shell of a car came a tennis ball, soaring through the air with the greatest of ease. It smacked into the zombie's face, and then it came around again, and again, in an endless cycle of ZOMBIE PWNAGE. Finally, the zombie crumpled to the ground, badly beaten and utterly defeated. Momo and Ryouma, stunned at that zombie crushing skill, looked over at the car.  
"Buchou!" Momo exclaimed as Tezuka Kunimitsu's head popped up through the car's sunroof majestically, like a dolphin emerging from the crystal blue water of a tropical beach. Their captain strolled over coolly after exiting the car, bending down and retrieving his tennis ball from the zombie's mashed head. "That was great, buchou-"  
"Momoshiro, Echizen," Tezuka interrupted Momo's praise, glaring at the duo. "What were you two doing?"  
"We-"  
"We were playing tennis," Ryouma sniffed indignantly, offering a challenging smirk to his buchou. "What are you going to do about it?"  
"Nothing. It's not time for punishment." Ryouma's cocky smirk fell. "We need to get back to Seigaku. Quickly."  
"Why?" Momo asked worriedly.  
"No time for idle chitchat," Tezuka said, sounding nothing like Tezuka but instead like an old movie hero. "We have to go back to Seigaku."

TO BE CONT..inui…..ed…..


	2. Chapter 2

Seigaku was one of the only schools left in Japan. Sure, there were others, but there was none quite like Seigaku's. At the front gate, there were two blue and white jackets blowing in the breeze, reminding anyone who walks by of the regulars they had lost.

Beyond the gate were several automatic tennis ball shooters, all temporarily disabled as the zombie population in Tokyo was definitely dropping. And beyond _those _was Horio, looking particularly antsy.

"Buchou! Echizen! Momo-chan-senpai!" Horio squawked. Tezuka ignored him, shoving him aside as he entered the school. Momo shrugged as if to say 'what are you gonna do?' and followed his captain. Ryouma allowed Horio to walk beside him.

"What's going on," Ryouma asked, keeping his voice low. The tension in the air definitely asked for a hushed tone.

Horio didn't read the mood. "Ryuzaki-sensei is sick!" He screeched.

Momo turned around dramatically, colliding with Ryouma. "What?!"

"Keep your voices down," Tezuka snapped, looking particularly furious with them. Momo and Horio both sheepishly slunk behind Ryouma, who stood firm against their captain.

"She's sick?"

"We don't know-"

"I have two years of medical experience," Horio affirmed, grinning smugly. "I would know if she was sick or not!"

"Horio, 20 laps." Tezuka turned away, continuing towards Ryuzaki's office. Horio ducked his head and went in the opposite direction, jogging defeatedly. Ryouma and Momo followed their captain, feeling pretty embarrassed (for Horio, that is).

Tezuka threw the door open, startling the people inside. Kawamura was sat beside a cot the team had dragged into the room for their coach, who was lay still on it with her eyes closed. Inui stood by the windows, letting sunlight pass through a glass vial he held.

"You found them!" Kawamura said in a relieved tone, sighing. "Thank god."

"How is she?" Tezuka asked, taking a seat beside the cot.

Kawamura shrugged, looking over to Ryuzaki blankly. "Inui's been trying some stuff, but…"

"Excuse me, but my juice is definitely helping fight against the infection," Inui butted in, strolling over. He was still holding the small vial of potent-looking green liquid. "Do not dismiss my prowess."

"Sorry," Kawamura mumbled. "That's true."

"Yes, it is." Inui said, nodding smugly. He set the vial down on Ryuzaki's desk. Momo sidled over and carefully picked it up, examining it closely. Inui plucked it from his curious fingers quickly. "Where were you two?"

"Uh," Momo gulped. "We, uh…"

"We went to Gyokurin to play tennis," Ryouma said coolly. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms.

Kawamura looked at the two with an exasperated expression. "What! Why didn't you just play here?"

Ryouma shrugged, not really sure what to say. Despite the tension in the room, it was quickly forgotten in order to give attention to the biggest problem here - Ryuzaki.

"We need to get to Rikkai," Tezuka said in an affirmative tone after a few moments of thinking. "They have a better chance of saving her than we do."

"That's because they were smart enough to hole up in a hospital," Kawamura mumbled. He was very mumbly today.

"And if we're lucky, they'll be smart enough to help us." Tezuka stood up, looking at the faces of his team. "We'll head out immediately. Momo, Ryouma - you have to stay here to watch over sensei."

"Buchou!" Momo shouted. "That's so unfair!"

"That's what you get for sneaking off on your own," Tezuka snapped, voice full of a surprising venom. "You remember what happened to the last people who did that, don't you?"

A deafening silence settled over the regulars in the room. They _all _remembered the devastating event. They remembered the consequences, too - they didn't just lose two members. They lost three.

Knowing they had been beat, Ryouma and Momo remained silent as Tezuka went over the plans to get to Rikkai safely.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Tezuka and co. headed out immediately. Momo and Ryouma watched from the window of Ryuzaki's office as the group left. Tezuka hung back, staring up at the jacket-flags blowing in the stale, diseased breeze. Just kidding. The virus wasn't airborne. But it was still pretty disgusting out.

"Buchou really misses them," Momo said quietly, referring to their captain looking at the jackets. Ryouma huffed, but he agreed. You could tell Tezuka missed the members they lost.

"Everyone does," Ryouma muttered.

Momo looked at Ryouma, eyebrows high. "Don't tell me - Echizen's actually _missing _someone?!" He reached over and snatched the boy's hat from his head, ruffling his hair violently. "Echize~n!"

Ryouma shoved Momo away and snatched his hat back, angrily plopping it back on his head. Before he could be condescending, which he was pretty good at, both he and Momo were distracted by the sight of Kachiro and Katsuo walking back into Seigaku. Both of the boys suddenly had the same cunning plan…..

Meanwhile, Tezuka was watching the back of the Seigaku group that was trekking through abandoned Tokyo. He had his tennis racket out, just in case, and it seemed to make the rest of the team calmer, so he decided to carry it for the whole trip. Rikkai was pretty far away on foot, so they'd need all the confidence they could get.

Up ahead, Kawamura was carrying everyone's stuff, as well as his own - he was pretty much the team's pack mule. He didn't mind though - ever since he had given up tennis, he was happy to help in any way he could. And in front of him was Inui, jotting some notes down in his green notebook. His favorite notebook. He liked to take notice of certain things whenever he went outside - he was excellent at telling whether or not there were zombies around based on the environment.

He looked down at his student. "Kaidoh, are you getting this data down? You must be quick if you want to be a good data-man someday."

Kaidoh, the particularly snaky Seigaku regular, hissed in annoyance. "Inui-sensei, I don't even want to be your student. Data is for nerds."

Inui ignored him and continued to take notes. Kaidoh grunted angrily, looking down at his own snake patterned notebook. Inui bought him that notebook. That nerd thought he was _sooooo_ clever.

Kawamura hung back, falling into step beside Tezuka. They walked in silence, listening to Inui and Kaidoh bicker for a few minutes as they walked. The noise made the eerily empty city seem less scary.

"Are you sure about going to Rikkai?" Kawamura asked quietly, looking up at his captain.

Tezuka squared his jaw, looking ahead determinedly. "Of course. They have the finest medicine against zombification that Japan has to offer. I have complete trust that Sanada and Yukimura can handle whatever happens."

Kawamura had his doubts, but he didn't voice them. He didn't want to worry their captain with his silly doubts, anyway! Both of them were distracted by Kaidoh lashing out, slapping the back of Inui's head with his notebook. Kawamura got a chuckle out of the scene, and when he looked over at Tezuka, the captain was smirking slightly, his eyes drawn downwards.

Momo clapped Katsuo and Kachiro on the heads, beaming. "You take good care of Obaa-chan, got it? If she goes full zombie, you know what to do."

Katsuo and Kachiro looked down at the tube of tennis balls Momo had entrusted them with warily. Honestly, they weren't very good hitters, they'd probably be better off with a knife or something, but there were no knives in Tokyo. Only tennis. They nodded, in sync with one another, and Momo grinned again, giving them a thumbs up.

"Nice! You two are the best ichinen I've ever known!"

Momo turned away from the two boys, who continued to look, awed, over the newfound responsibility that was tennis. As Momo turned the corner he met up with Ryouma again, who was giving him a sour look.

"What's up? Were you listening?" He asked. Ryouma stared stonily at him. Momo rolled his eyes. "Don't feel bad. You'll always be my _favorite _ichinen," Momo cooed, before chuckling goodheartedly and grabbing Ryouma's hat from his head.

Ryouma snatched it back, looking angrily at his senpai. "No, you idiot. I just can't believe you gave them a _whole set _of tennis balls. We could have used those. Also, stop grabbing my hat. It's annoying-"

"There aren't _that _many zombies left," Momo tried to argue, but Ryouma wasn't having any of that.

"We could run into a hoard! Or even worse, we could lose some balls! We always need extra! I don't think they'd need seven whole balls just to take out some old woman. She's probably all squishy, like a decayed pumpkin-"

Momo shrugged. "Hey, have some faith. We're gonna be okay."

Ryouma didn't answer. They looked around carefully before exiting Seigaku's front gate, officially leaving Katsuo and Kachiro alone with Ryuzaki and Horio, who was still doing laps around the school probably. They walked to the middle of the street before stopping and looking around.

"Do you know which way they went?" Ryouma asked.

Momo didn't. But he wasn't gonna let this little punk show him up. "Of course," Momo said loudly, puffing out his chest heroically. "They don't call me Momoshiro 'Scout' Takeshi for nothing!"

"No one calls you that," Ryouma deadpanned. If he had Ponta, he would have drank it smugly. But he didn't, so he tipped the brim of his hat down slightly.

Momoshiro smacked Ryouma upside the head. "C'mon, we gotta go catch up to them!"

Ryouma stared at his senpai for a few moments before following him, suddenly regretting his decision to leave Seigaku.


	4. Chapter 4

The walk to Rikkai was uneventful. They didn't run into any zombies, which concerned Tezuka - they didn't even show up overnight when they stopped to rest. Just when Tezuka was about to throw in the towel and say that the zombie apocalypse was over, they caught the smell of death on the wind, wafting from the deep middle of the Kanagawa region, where Rikkai stood, cooped up in a hospital.

Rikkai had abandoned their school after seventy percent of their huge tennis team caught the disease. They effectively wiped most of the school clean with their disease ridden bites. The regular team was forced out of their school, and made camp in a local hospital, assumably because of their often sickly captain. It was amazing that the fragile Yukimura Seiichi had survived the sudden spread of the virus so far. There were other teams who had lost much stronger players to the zombies, so the survival of Yukimura made Rikkai dangerous to others. They had the goods to survive, when others didn't. That's why they were the kings.

Which is what made Tezuka especially nervous about going to Rikkai's home base - they had the power to outright reject Seigaku's request for medicine. They also had the power to kill Seigaku if they thought they were a threat. Tezuka didn't think they would do that. They were one of the most civilized teams, after all.

Inui was writing furiously in his journal. Kaidoh was watching him uselessly, wondering how on earth he'd ever be able to write that much that fast.

"What's up," Tezuka asked Inui in a low voice, knowing that the data-man had sensed something wrong himself.

Inui looked troubled as he paused in his note-taking, scowling at the page. "There appears to be a strangely high number of undead in the area. Er, dead undead. I don't remember there being this many to begin with, much less to have them all die in one area…"

Tezuka felt nervous. Tezuka was _never _nervous, not even when he was playing tennis against his toughest opponents. Inui was right - there was a high chance that there were more zombies in the area than was the norm, even if they_ were_ dead. The buildings were no longer boarded up, as if they had been forced into, and the streets were cluttered with piles of bodies. Large piles too. And not a single tennis ball lay among them. Tezuka's fear was now shared with Kawamura and Kaidoh, who noticed the disturbing scene for themselves.

"Rikkai didn't do this?" Kawamura asked despite already knowing the answer, eyes quickly scanning the scene for any flashes of yellow. There were none.

A scowl graced Tezuka's face. No tennis balls meant no civilized being had done this. Which meant… "No, they didn't." He adjusted his glasses. "Someone else did."

"I didn't know you could kill zombies without tennis," Kaidoh muttered, finally writing something down in his notebook.

_Things can kill zombies OTHER THAN TENNIS? Ask sensei…senpai later_

The quartet continued, though with much more caution than they had been traveling with before. They were careful to avoid the piles of dead bodies. As they grew nearer to the hospital, the amount of bodies grew, but so did the amount of tennis balls. It almost made Tezuka cry out of pure joy to see the scattered tennis balls around the corpses.

"Rikkai's okay!" Kawamura cheered, nearly dropping everyones stuff in the process.

Though Tezuka wanted to agree, he knew that he couldn't. Not just yet. "Let's confirm that they're still here before celebrating, Kawamura."

"I am 60% sure that they are inside," Inui said, scribbling something down in his notebook.

"Only sixty?" Kawamura's smiling face fell slightly.

Inui nodded. "They were definitely here, but I'm not so sure if they're here _anymore_."

* * *

Momo was getting pretty tired of Ryouma's constant itch for tennis. Heck, Momo _loved _tennis, but this kid _breathed _tennis. It was getting a little out of hand.

For instance, they were strolling through a pretty quiet town and they passed a basketball court. Ryouma wanted to play tennis on it. Who played tennis on a basketball court?! ?! There weren't even any nets! (Well, there are nets, but they aren't suitable for playing tennis with. They were circular and made for slam dunking.)

Momo was beginning to think that Ryouma didn't want to take those extra balls for protection. He just wanted something to play games with. Typical behavior for the "prince of tennis", he supposed.

He nearly blew a fuse when Ryouma offered that they stop by Fudomine to play a game in their court, but was inspired by the idea. Fudomine was a passive team, after all! Plus, Momo was running low on supplies by this point, and Fudomine would surely be able to sell a traveller some food and water. Also, Momo could finally show Kamio up and show off to An with his new and improved dunk smash, which was proven to be lethal against zombies. 100% accuracy, _bitch_.

As they neared the school, the boys became aware of the school's good condition. Unlike Seigaku, which was looking pretty worn down, it was still looking like a proper school. It was as if the zombie apocalypse hadn't affected it at all. There were some rumors amongst the teams that Fudomine still had classes in session, even. It was really remarkable.

Momo was pretty confident that they could get inside, since he had some _great _connections with the captain's sister, if you know what he meant. He boasted about them during their entire walk to the school gates. By the time they arrived, Ryouma looked like he wanted to become a zombie himself.

Feeling pretty confident, Momo rang the intercom that had been hastily put on the gate. He grabbed it close, speaking into it almost seductively. "Hello, Fudomine. Your favorite Seigaku member here. Wanna let us in?"

"Fuck no," came the answer a few seconds later.

Momo's goofy smile turned into a vicious snarl in an instant. "Kamio, you son of a bitch, you better let us in, or I'll-"

"You'll _what_? Come in here and beat me up? WIth your puny dunk smash attack? I'd like to see you try."

"I'll have you know that I improved it 50000%-"

"For someone with the nerdiest nerd to ever nerd on their team, you're pretty bad at percentages."

"It's the truth!"

"Yea, whatever," Kamio snorted. Somewhere inside, the Seigaku members could hear Shinji muttering nonsensically for Kamio to stop his shenanigans before Tachibana overheard. Kamio ignored him. "You're something special if you think I'm gonna let you in. I don't let total squares into Fudomine, like you-"

"Kamio! What the heck is going on over here?" came another voice from the intercom.

"T-Tachibana-!"

"I told you to stop before the captain heard," Shinji muttered.

"Seigaku?" Tachibana's voice sounded. "Is there something wrong?"

Ryouma pushed Momo away, taking control of the intercom. "We're going to Rikkai. We ran out of supplies. Also, I want to play tennis."

After a few moments of silence and Momo rearing to beat the heck out of Kamio, Tachibana said "come in". The fence screeched loudly as it slowly swung open far enough to let them walk in one by one.

When they entered the school, Kamio and Shinji sitting on either side of the door, each holding a tennis racket at their side, looking pretty dangerous in the dimly lit entryway, greeted them. Tachibana stood a little further down, looking heroic and even a little angelic with the poor lights in the school creating a halo of fluorescent light around his body.

"Follow me," Tachibana said. Ryouma and Momo were compelled to follow him - it was just the powerful way Tachibana held himself. He was a real leader. They walked away from Kamio and Shinji, who stared at them suspiciously. Momo stuck his tongue out at Kamio as they left, who flashed him the middle finger. Ryouma rolled his eyes. For senpais, they were pretty childish.

"So," Tachibana said as they walked, smiling politely. "What is Seigaku doing going to Rikkai?" He paused. "Well, the two of you, anyway."

"The others already left," Ryouma explained.

"They left _without us_," Momo whined. "Can you believe it?!"

Tachibana opted not to answer. Though he was surprised they hadn't brought Ryouma along. He decided not to dwell on it. They came to the principal's office, where Tachibana had taken up residence. An was sitting on the edge of the oak desk, looking at her nails with a frown. "Teppei, we should try to find a nail file, my nails are really out of-" she looked up, eyes wide. "Oh!"

Momo froze up, staring at An awkwardly. "Uh, um, uh- H, h, hey, An! Er, Tachibana…chan…no…uh…"

"We'll get you a nail file some other time." Tachibana pat her head as he walked behind the desk and took a seat in the large leather chair, looking at the Seigaku members from across it. "Take a seat, Momoshiro. Echizen."

Ryouma and Momo took their seats. "So Seigaku wants Rikkai's help." Tachibana looked troubled. "Why?"

Ryouma scowled. "That's none of your business."

"Rikkai?" An said, surprise in her voice. "I thought they got wiped out?"

Momo and Ryouma both had the same knee-jerk reaction; they stood at once, looking at the Tachibanas with alarm. "What?" Momo said incredulously. "Rikkai did?"

Tachibana rubbed at his forehead. "Well, no - they got threatened, so they had to move to somewhere safer. I think they were taken in by St. Rudolph…" He shook his head. "Either way, your captain is a fool for going over there, for whatever reason it is. You should try to catch up to him soon."

"Why did they leave the hospital?" Ryouma asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't often that a strong team like Rikkai could be easily persuaded to leave their turf like that. Ryouma was dying for the hot, juicy gossip.

"Has Seigaku been under a rock these past few months?" Tachibana asked, furrowing a brow at their apparent ignorance. "Higa Chuu's been on a ravaging spree lately. Rikkai's hospital was just one of their stops. That's why all the teams have been beefing up their security."

"Except Seigaku," An murmured, raising her eyebrows. Ryouma scowled at her. What a cocky little-!

"Why wouldn't our captain tell us something like that?" Ryouma asked defiantly, glaring at the Fudomine captain.

Tachibana shrugged apologetically, frowning at him. "I'm not sure. You'd have to ask him yourself."

Momo's earlier jovial attitude had left him. He was staring sternly down at the floor, face set. "We should probably get going then." He looked at Ryouma. "We have to let Buchou know."

"You'll have to be fast," An said in an almost sing-song tone of voice. "Since Rikkai is in the opposite direction that you came from!"

Ryouma's gaze turned sharply to Momo, who looked embarrassed. "Mada made dane," Ryouma hissed before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Momo sighed, thanking Tachibana before leaving his precious An behind to follow his angered kouhai.


	5. Chapter 5

If there was one thing that Tezuka hated, it was doors that wouldn't open. Well, that's a lie - he hated Atobe Keigo of Hyoutei more, but he would digress. He watched in annoyance as Kawamura and Kaidoh slammed their shoulders against Rikkai's hospital doors, attempting to rattle them open.

Inui was no longer taking notes in his notebook, and instead was circling around the perimeter of the hospital on the lookout for any openings that would allow for Seigaku to enter.

Why were they trying to break in, you ask? Well, after a few moments of standing awkwardly at the front of the hospital, waiting for Rikkai to answer their knocks, Inui calculated that Rikkai was either a) not inside or b) dead inside. Tezuka had ordered for them to get in immediately.

After a few more minutes of useless shoulder shoving, Tezuka had had enough and he Tezuka zoned the door off. It skid into the center of the street, landing softly against a pile of bodies. Kawamura and Kaidoh stared at him in awe, but Tezuka didn't have the time to drink in their admiration. He ordered Kaidoh to wait for Inui at the door, and then entered the dark hospital.

The inside was a mess. Tezuka never really visited Rikkai, and he barely knew their leaders, but he assumed that they would have kept a cleaner house than this. There were boards covering the large windows, blocking any light from coming through. There was a buzzing emergency light by the staircase behind and to the right of the front desk. On the front desk, there was a mug with "Worlds #1 Dad" painted on it.

Behind the desk, painted over the cork board and the tiled wall behind it, was a Japanese character written sloppily in purple paint. It was a kanji symbol, intricate and beautiful, in a way, despite the crude way it had been painted.

"What a ridiculously overcomplicated symbol," Kawamura muttered. "It must have taken them at least a minute." Before you question just how long a minute is, try writing an "M" for a minute straight. Grueling. You take for granted how simple our written characters are, don't you? Well, quit it.

"Can you read it?" Tezuka asked Kawamura, who shook his head. The captain walked behind the desk to get a closer look at the letter and was surprised when he stood on something that clattered metallically against the cracking linoleum floor.

He felt sick immediately after realizing what it was - it was a bear trap with a browned limb stuck inside, the bone crushed to little pieces.

Kawamura groaned. "You don't think-"

"It's probably just…just from a zombie." Tezuka was trying to convince himself as well as Kawamura, who was keeping a safe distance away from the desk. Tezuka, too, retreated from the desk, leaving the symbol for another time. Maybe Inui would be able to decipher it when he came inside.

"Let's continue," Tezuka said affirmatively. Kawamura nodded timidly, and followed his captain towards the staircase.

After thoroughly checking three of the hospital floors, Tezuka was beginning to lose hope that Rikkai was still there. Inui's 60% prediction of their residence was right to be that low. There didn't seem to be anyone inside anymore. As they neared one of the last corridors they needed to check, they could hear Inui and Kaidoh finally reaching their floor, talking heatedly in the stairwell.

When Tezuka rounded the third door's doorframe, he was shocked over what he saw: a bloody mess, that's what. The room was splattered in purple paint and tinted brown by splashes of blood, supposedly Rikkai's blood. At the center of the gore was Rikkai's resident Ichinen, blinking blearily up at Tezuka through pained eyes.

"Ichinen!" Tezuka gasped, hurrying over to the smaller boy. His name was Urayama Shiita, and the Seigaku first years would jokingly call him "ice cream kid" because his hair resembled a nice creamy scoop. Right now, though, it was matted to his head, and didn't look particularly appetizing, so we'll call him Urayama. Tezuka knelt beside him and pulled the boy up. It looked as if though he had lost an arm, his tennis arm, Tezuka noticed with a grimace, and his legs looked as if though they had been badly bludgeoned. The sight of this poor kid was sickening, realy.

"What happened?" Tezuka asked.

Urayama coughed hoarsely, clearing his throat. "We…buchou got attacked…"

"Yukimura?"

He nodded. "He got out…though…they all did…"

"But you didn't?" Tezuka began to feel really bad for this kid. How could they leave behind such a cute ichinen? He wished that the Seigaku ichinen had circular blushes on their faces at all times. "Where did they go? Who did this?"

Urayama seized up in pain for a moment, struggling to speak. "They got out…before the purple team came…they knew…but didn't tell us…"

"Monsters!" Tezuka said dramatically. He was talking about "the purple team", not Rikkai, who did leave their non-regular members to be killed by said "purple team". He knew who the purple team was. He knew of their wiles. Their…violent wiles. Their VILES.

"What?" Urayama said weakly. Tezuka hadn't realized he had said that last part aloud. "Viles?"

"Don't worry," Tezuka shushed him. "We'll get you back to Seigaku and-"

"It's too late," the boy said. His voice was quiet and there was a trickle of blood inching down his chin and dripping onto his uniform, staining the yellow fabric. "Tell…Captain Yukimura…that he was the best player…ever…"

"He doesn't need me to tell him that," Tezuka said, slightly annoyed by the boys parting words. This kid was truly a background character.

The boy went limp in his arms. Kawamura was weeping at the doorway. Tezuka lay the boy down on the floor, staring at him for a few moments before standing, walking towards Kawamura. The other boy grabbed Tezuka's sleeve. "Captain-"

"There was nothing I could have done," Tezuka said quickly, voice light. Kawamura pulled back. "We need to find the medicine Ryuzaki needs and then leave."

"Shouldn't we go look for Rikkai? If they're in danger…"

"I trust Sanada and Yukimura can-"

"You said that about the hospital!" Kawamura shouted. Tezuka turned his head sharply to his friend. Kawamura clenched his fists. "They obviously need help! They couldn't protect themselves and now they're out in the open!"

Tezuka stepped closer to Kawamura, nearly brushing their noses together. "We're finding the medicine," he whispered dangerously. "And then we're leaving. What happens to Rikkai is none of our concern-"

"You wouldn't be saying that if Fuji was still alive," Kawamura hissed.

Inui and Kaidoh, who had been sifting through piles of old canisters down the hallway, heard a loud smacking noise and the crumbling of plaster. They scrambled out of the room and peered around the doorway, taking in the scene. Kawamura was leaning against the wall, a hand pressed against his face. Tezuka was glaring hotly at him, teeth bared. "You will _not _speak to me like that," Tezuka said loudly, aggressively. "And you will _not _say that name. Get back to Seigaku, Kawamura. We'll get the medicine without your help."

"You're just afraid of…_them_," Kawamura hissed before sprinting off, sparkling tears falling from his eyes as he ran. Inui and Kaidoh watched as he ran down the stairs. So shoujo.

Inui adjusted his glasses. Kaidoh hissed, low and quiet. "What happened?"

"There's a 90% chance that Kawamura brought up Fuji," Inui said.

Kaidoh scowled. Tezuka walked briskly by, not looking at the two regulars crouched behind a door frame. "Inui. Kaidoh. Find the medicine and then meet me downstairs. We'll head back immediately."

They watched as their stone-faced captain disappeared down the staircase. Inui adjusted his glasses again before standing and following his orders, searching for the medicine. Kaidoh followed suit slowly, but not before taking a quick note in his notebook, which had had been expected Inui to do as well.

_Captain…he looked like he was going to cry. Over Fuji? Over Kawamura? Dunno. I'm not gonna ask either. Kaidoh out_

Ryouma was still pretty pissed at Momo for getting them so off track. No matter how many times Momo tried to catch up with him, Ryouma would just scurry away like a spooked cat. It was getting on Momo's nerves, even though it _was technically _his fault that they were now so far away from their team.

"Yo, Ryouma!" Momo called out. Ryouma didn't even turn around. Whatta jerk. "Ryouma, c'mon. You know I didn't mean to go the wrong way! Why the heck would I do that!"

Ryouma looked over his shoulder. "Well, I don't know."

Momo cheered that Ryouma acknowledged him, but it was over as soon as it happened. Momo took it as a win regardless.

As he was about to call out to Ryouma again, he noticed that Ryouma had disappeared. Suddenly apprehensive, he called out his kouhai's name. "Ryouma? Where did you go?"

He stepped along, looking around wildly for Echizen. Where the heck had that tricky guy gone off to? He really was a pain in Momo's ass.

He heard a muffled grunt and two louder moans suddenly, terrifying him. Momo went tense, turning to his right and seeing two zombies huddled over something in the grass.

The thing was Ryouma?!

How the heck had his sharp sensed kouhai gotten captured like this?! Ryouma knew that Momo wasn't as artful with tennis as he was! Jeez! So inconsiderate!

One of the zombies tore a shred of fabric from Ryouma's regular jacket. Ryouma let out an upset howl over the event. Momo reached into his pocket and took out a tennis ball. He served it up high, landing it square in the center of one of the zombie's backs. The zombies looked away from Ryouma, distracted by Momo's sweet serve. He was about to show off his sweet new dunk smash when suddenly something grabbed him from behind, slamming him down to the ground. it was another zombie, even scarier than the two attacking Ryouma. What a break. He struggled against the zombie, but it was pretty strong. Stronger than Momo, anyway.

He let out a strong cry, thrashing against the zombies despite the futility of it all.

Just as he was about to give in to the zombies tearing at his sleeves and drooling blood red spit all over his torso, the area became quiet, except for a whooshing. A beautiful purple light came from behind a few rocks. From it, a tennis ball came rocketing out gracefully, curving gently towards the zombies. It took them all out in one move, before coasting to a stop beside Ryouma's head. The two Seigaku members looked up at the sky, returned to its blue color, for a few shocked moments of silence. And then Momo shot up into a sitting position, looking at his friend. "Was that-"

"The moon volley," Ryouma breathed, eyes full of wonder. He sure loved tennis, and learning new moves, and the moon volley was one they had lost forever once…

"But only one person knew the moon volley," Momo said.

Ryouma opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another voice, one much hoarser and manly than Ryouma's.

"And that would be _me," _said the voice from a few feet away. Momo looked up and squinted in the light. On top of the rock where the moon volley had come from, a figure stood with a rickety looking tennis racket in his arms and a raggedy pile of tennis balls at his feet. His blue pants were shredded and his jersey was stained with a brown red. The figure had a round head, topped with black and two long strands coming from the top. His beard matched his haircut. It was…

"Oishi!"


	6. Chapter 6

Oishi's den, as Momo referred it, was a clearing beneath a couple of overhanging rocks. His Seigaku sweatshirt was pinned to the wall by the sleeves. Other than that, the cave was bare. There was a thin mattress pushed up against the side of the cave, and a small crate full of odds and ends, the most obvious being a light blue tennis racket that Momo and Ryouma both recognized uneasily. Ryouma was reluctant to sit on the rock floor, but did so at Oishi's insistence.

"What are you two doing around here?" Oishi asked after they were all settled. He scrounged around in a cubby hole in the cave for a variation of mugs. He poured them some water from a water bottle. Momo took it thankfully. Ryouma set it down without taking a sip.

"We…_accidentally_ went to Fudomine," Ryouma said, the biting tone of his voice obvious. Momo scowled. Oishi looked surprised.

"Fudomine? That's in the worst part of Tokyo. Why were you…accidentally…there?"

"We were supposed to be going to Rikkai," Momo said sheepishly. Oishi looked even more surprised.

He took a quiet sip of his water first. As he did, Ryouma caught the faint noise of something moving elsewhere in the cave. He looked behind him, on edge, but saw nothing. Oishi set his water down. "Rikkai? Are they still around?"

"They might not be," Momo said solemnly. "Apparently they got run out of their hospital by another team."

Oishi put a hand to his mouth. "That's awful!"

Momo was unsure how someone as sensitive and genuine as Oishi was able to live out here on his own. It had been nearly ten months since _the event _had taken place, but Oishi seemed alright. He wasn't too thin or sickly looking. He still had mastery of the moon volley, one of the five legendary moves that were definitely lethal against zombies.

"How have you been," Momo asked out of curiosity. "You know, since you've left Seigaku."

"Oh." Oishi looked distant suddenly, his eyes slightly glazed. "I've been alright. I've been thinking of leaving this cave. You know. I might go closer to Hyoutei."

Ryouma heard that noise again. He elbowed Momo, but Momo ignored him. "You could always come back to Seigaku-"

"No," Oishi smiled rigidly. "I couldn't."

"Do you hear that?" Ryouma whispered.

"What?" Momo asked, staring at his kouhai in annoyance.

"Plus, I have an obligation here," Oishi said, pushing up from his standing position. He carried his glass of water over to a seemingly bare corner of the room. The noise started up again and Ryouma whispered to Momo to listen. "I couldn't go back now."

He hit the cave wall gently, and the rock moved backwards, revealing a smaller space hidden behind it. Cat-like eyes met Ryouma's across the room and Momo shrieked, turning as white as a ghost and clung to Ryouma.

"What is that?!" Momo asked incredulously.

Oishi smiled fondly into the darkness and placed his water glass down. It was quickly stolen into the darkness by a pale hand. The glass was returned quickly, now empty, and Oishi retrieved it. He turned back to his old teammates and chuckled in embarrassment. "It's my doubles partner."

Tezuka, Inui and Kaidoh returned to Seigaku quickly, the medicine now in their hands. They burst into Seigaku, startling the Ichinen, and Kawamura, who were crowded around the door excitedly.

"Ichinen!" Tezuka shouted, surprised to see them huddled around the door so closely. "What are you doing?"

"It's about Ryuzaki!" Horio exclaimed.

"Is she alright-"

"She's awake!" They all shouted in unison, the joy obvious in their cries. Tezuka's eyes widened and they all hurried upstairs to see their coach.

Ryuzaki was standing by the window, gazing out at Tokyo's ruins. She turned when they all burst in. Tezuka felt his eyes well up at the sight (he'd never cry, though). "Coach!"

"Welcome back," she grinned at them.

Inui was already scribbling in his notebook. "Fascinating! When did she wake up, Katsuo, Kachiro? How did you get her to?"

Kaidoh quickly took out his notebook as well, assuming this was the prime time to take data. "Uh, yeah. Tell us."

Katsuo slapped Kachiro on the back. The boy with the bowl cut blushed as he explained. "Well, she was getting pretty bad, so we looked around at what we had, and I combined some of Inui-senpai's juice with some of the pills we had in the nurse's office and she woke up the next morning…"

Tezuka and Kaidoh were both flabbergasted that Inui's juice could do anything positive. Inui looked smugly down at the first-years. "Of course it was my juice. I knew it would come in handy."

"Oh, but Katsuo helped too!" Kachiro insisted, looking embarrassed. "He sat with her all night to make sure she didn't react badly to it…and…she got up once and we were afraid she was a zombie, so Katsuo held her down until she talked to him…and…and…"

Katsuo turned red. "I didn't do anything. Not like _you_ did-"

"But you were way cooler!"

"No, you saved her."

"No, _you_ did-"

"No-"

"You _both_ acted very responsibly and quickly," Ryuzaki said proudly, clapping them both on the head. "I think they should become Regulars-"

Tezuka scowled and Ryuzaki stopped in her train of thought. Though Tezuka was pleased to see his Coach alive and well and was immensely proud of the ichinen (sans Horio, who would probably insist that he helped when he didn't), he couldn't help the feeling of frustration and dread growing in the deepest pit of his stomach. "Where are Momoshiro and Echizen?"

Everyone fell silent. Kachiro and Katsuo tried to awkwardly shuffle away from their captain, but Tezuka caught them both by the scruff of their shirts. They whined. "They told us to watch over Coach because they wanted to go find you guys-!"

Tezuka dropped them and they scurried out of the room. The captain rubbed took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes in irritation. Kaidoh was still scribbling in his notebook, but came to a halt when he saw that Inui was no longer writing. He looked particularly stumped over something he had written. Kaidoh took a peek, struggling to read his senpai's handwriting.

_Tezuka… _Kaidoh gave up after that. It was something about Tezuka. He had plenty of notes about their buchou's strange behavior lately. Heck, his notes were probably _better _than the nerds. He could do anything better than him. Especially tennis. But now he also did notes better. God, Kaidoh was _so cool. _

"E…Eiji-senpai?" Momo uttered, eyes wide.

"Yes," Oishi said, almost sadly. "That's him."

Ryouma and Momo were pretty creeped out by this. They were also a little sad. It was awfully sad seeing Oishi trying so hard to keep the legendary Golden Pair together, regardless of life or death.

Eiji had died, alongside Fuji during one of their games late last spring. The two had snuck out on their own after a quarrel over who could beat the other. They had been caught by something - what it was, no one was sure. Fuji was gone, save for his Seigaku jacket, and Eiji was violently hurt, his uniform torn and his skin splattered in blood. Eiji went into a severe medical decline, and was declared dead a month after the event.

The whole ordeal shook Seigaku. Tezuka became much stricter about leaving the school. Oishi became overwhelmingly depressed before leaving Seigaku altogether. Kawamura was almost immediately forced into the role Oishi had left behind. Ryuzaki banned the boys from playing tennis anywhere but the inside courts, which made Ryouma in particular very annoyed. Seigaku became withdrawn, barely interacting with the other teams. Most of the Seigaku regulars resented Tezuka's shying away from the problem, but they would never do anything about it.

But, I digress - that's enough exposition. Momo and Ryouma were just shocked to see Eiji, or rather hear him, shuffling around in a dark crawlspace and muttering "nya" every so often.

"How is he…" Momo gestured wildly, finding himself at a loss for words. "You know. _Alive?_"

Oishi shrugged, sitting down next to the opening. A hand came out from the gap and swiped at Oishi's sleeve. It would have been playful, had they all not known what Eiji's true intentions were (they were flesh[Eiji wanted to eat Oishi's organs and anything keeping him from doing that was an idiot{even if it was an object. It was an idiot.}]). "I don't know. When I left Seigaku, I walked by his grave, and I… I had a feeling that he wasn't gone."

Ryouma was feeling pretty uneasy about it all. "Did you…you know, dig him up?"

"Of course!" Oishi exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "I couldn't leave him there. Not if he was going to come back to life. The Golden Pair i_s eternal._"

There was an awkward silence as Momo and Ryouma shared a nervous glance. Momo cleared his throat. "So, uh, is he really a zombie?"

Oishi shook his head. "Only half. He can still talk and he isn't savage or anything…he doesn't really recognize me, though."

"That's so sad!" Momo cried. THe Golden Pair was Seigaku's sweetheart combination; back when they would play in tournaments and there were no zombies around to attack players, the Golden Pair would use their incredible chemistry to tear up the courts and anyone they played against. Seeing them like this was too much for Momo's heart to take!

Not Ryouma though. "That's a little creepy," he muttered.

Oishi looked disheartened, but he smiled regardless, eyes drawing to the hole where Eiji was kept. Momo shoved Ryouma before turning back to Oishi. "Why do you want to go to Hyoutei? Wouldn't you have to leave Eiji here?"

"Who knows," Oishi said lightly, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

"We should get going," Ryouma said suddenly, standing up. "Thanks for the water, and saving us, and stuff. But we really need to find Tezuka-buchou. I don't think he knows about the raids lately."

"How is Tezuka?" Oishi asked quietly.

Momo and Ryouma shrugged noncommittally. They didn't really know if they should tell Oishi the truth or not, especially not if he was going over to Hyoutei soon. "He's still upset about last year," Ryouma answered. "He's been really strict lately because you left."

Oishi chuckled. "That sounds like him."

Momo and Ryouma thanked Oishi again before setting out, leaving Oishi's den behind. Oishi waved at them as they left, but the smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. It was as if Oishi wasn't really glad they were leaving at all.

"He should just come back to Seigaku if he misses us so much," Ryouma huffed. Momo rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything despite his agreement.


	7. Chapter 7: RIKKAI EDITION

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of Japan (almost [but not really]), a fit of shouting was coming from the cafeteria of St. Rudolph Academy, probably attracting everyone within a twenty mile radius. Okay maybe not but it was loud. A plastic tray collided with the wall and fell to the floor with a crash.

"God damned Mizuki Hajime!" Marui hollered, stomping like a little kid. Jackal looked at him exasperatingly, waiting for him to calm down. The rest of Rikkai's team was scattered across the cafeteria, each at different stages of rage. Kirihara, in particular, was looking pretty steamy, shouting in agreement whenever Marui said something.

"Calm down," Yagyuu said calmly. Niou scowled at him.

"I can't calm down!" Marui shouted, slamming his hand onto a table. "I can't believe how much they _don't care _that Sanada and Yukimura-buchou are still out there! Why aren't they going to look for them?! Why won't they let US go look for them?!"

That's right. Sanada and Yukimura had gone out for a moment and never came back. AND they had told St. Rudolph to make sure that their team did not come out after them. It made Rikkai pretty mad. Even the people that didn't look mad were pretty annoyed by their captain and vice-captain's decision.

"They probably left for a reason," Jackal tried to reason with the fiery redhead.

"No!" Marui was furiously chomping on his gum. "They probably left because living here _sucks_! We're under constant supervision! What were they thinking!" Indeed, a member of the St. Rudolph team timidly stood by the door, watching them. He didn't look like he could hold back all of them at once, but no one was gonna take any chances.

"Yanagi-senpai!" Marui turned his attention tothe resident data man of their team, and closest confidant to Sanada and Yukimura. The boy was sitting quietly, tapping a pen against the edge of his notebook, which was shut. "Do you have any idea why they left? Or why we're being held PRISONER here when we're MUCH better off than these stupid St. Rudolph losers-"

"Marui!" Jackal hissed.

"It's true!" The redhead spat.

"Yeah!" Kirihara chimed in, nodding feverishly. "Rikkai is the best!"

Yanagi stopped tapping his pencil. He turned to his teammates, his normally serene face creased in annoyance. "Marui, Kirihara, _please. _You are being very inappropriate."

Kirihara shied away from their senpai's criticism. Marui scoffed angrily, rolling his eyes dramatically. Marui was convinced that Yanagi knew exactly why the captain and their vice-captain left, but the data-man wasn't telling them for some reason. It made him mad.

The team sat in a tense silence for a few moments. Yanagi took up tapping his pencil against his notebook again. Yagyuu and Niou slipped away from the group, less interested in their teams drama and more interested in the affairs of St. Rudolph. Marui eventually stood again, glaring at the team.

"Well, _I'm _going to go find them," he declared. Yanagi and Jackal scowled at him. Kirihara looked at him brightly. "And there's nothing this second-rate pretentious school can do to stop me-"

"That's where you're wrong," a cool voice sounded. The team turned their attention to the doorway the St. Rudolph member had been guarding. Mizuki, Akazawa and Yuuta stood there instead, looking at Rikkai intimidatingly. Well, in Mizuki's case smugly, but the other two were pretty intimidating.

"St. Rudolph," Yanagi murmured, nodding curtly.

"Datamen are always so polite," Mizuki fluttered, falling against Yuuta's shoulder. The younger Fuji looked uncomfortable, but didn't shrug the older boy off. Mizuki regained his composure quickly, his self-assured smirk returning.

Akazawa cleared his throat. "We can't let you leave, Bunta-kun. We have strict orders from your captain to not let you leave without them -"

"Then why don't you go find them?!" Marui sneered, glaring at the trio. "They've been gone for way too long. What if they're _dead?_"

Akazawa looked uncertain. Mizuki looked pretty certain. "Do you doubt your captain?" He asked.

The question caught Marui off guard. "Well, no, but-"

"Then sit down and quit making such a ruckus," Mizuki retorted. "We can hear you all the way up in our dorms. To think you uncouth buffoons are led by one of the most graceful captains of them all. Unbelievable."

Marui looked about ready to fight again, but Jackal grabbed him and forcibly sat him down. Kirihara quietly nodded, looking down at his lap. Mizuki gestured to Yanagi, who nodded and collected his notebook before following the trio out of the room, presumably to speak of Sanada and Yukimura. Marui continued to stew in his seat, and Jackal would occasionally attempt to talk to him, but his doubles partner would ignore him. Kirihara continued to sit in silence, wondering what Sanada and Yukimura were up to. Somewhere in St. Rudolph, there was a loud bang and then the cackling of a certain trickster. Niou and Yagyuu sprinted through the cafeteria as they were chased by Yanagisawa and Atsushi. Nobody even flinched.


	8. Chapter 8

.

Tezuka sat behind his desk, hands interlocked in front of his face. Ryuzaki leaned against the wall, staring at him throughtfully. Kawamura sat awkwardly across from Tezuka, biting at his lip anxiously.

"Buchou-" Kawamura tried, but the other boy shook his head. Kawamura looked defeatedly down at his lap.

After the team had found out Momo and Ryouma were gone, Tezuka had shut down, sitting by himself in Ryuzaki's office. He wouldn't answer to anyone who tried to speak with him.

It was reasonable that he be so worried, but his refusal to speak was a little much. The team knew that, if Fuji were still alive, the gentle boy would be able to calm Tezuka down. It just made everyone a little melancholy, even Inui, who was never anything but data-hungry.

Speaking of the data-fiend, he was sitting in the Seigaku computer lab, clicking away at a computer he was able to generate power for a few months ago after the zombies had smashed their lifeless bodies through the wiring. He had documents pertaining to each Seigaku regular, and even the ichinen and the other teams around Japan, and he was currently opened on Tezuka's file. It was mostly blank, save for a few headers and small paragraphs. Kaidoh was reading over his shoulder, unimpressed.

"For a nerd you don't have much data," he huffed.

"You haven't seen _your _file," Inui said smugly, Kaidoh was too creeped out to grace him with an answer. Inui continued. "Anyway, Tezuka is very mysterious. He's hard to read. Even harder to predict."

"Aren't you friends with him?" Kaidoh asked, still unimpressed. "You've known him forever. Shouldn't you have a lot of data?"

"Nothing worthwhile."

Why were they looking at their captain's data? Kaidoh had been curious, as snakes often were, and he wanted to know why Tezuka was so weird lately. Inui had given him a simple, one word answer, but he wouldn't take something that petty as an answer. Kaidoh was a little disappointed to find that Inui had the bare minimum in ways of data.

"You're useless," Kaidoh hissed. "Mizuki probably has more Tezuka data than you."

Inui frowned. "That's not very nice."

Kaidoh didn't mean it. Mizuki was the most useless out of all the data-men. Even Kaidoh was better than him, probably.

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside of Seigaku, Momo and Ryouma were spotted on the horizon by Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo. THe loudest of the three (you know who) squawked loudly in surprise at the sight of the two regulars shuffling in the distance.

"Momo-chan-senpai!" Katsuo and Kachiro cried.

Momo smiled broadly. "Just call me Momo."

"BUchou is SO MAD" Horio said as Ryouma and Momo came closer. Ryouma cringed at the loudness of Horio's voice. But then the message got through.

"Tezuka is back?" Ryouma asked.

"Yep!" Horio put his hands on his hips. "And he's massively mad. At you. For, y'know, leaving."

"Uh oh," Momo muttered. The duo were feeling pretty reluctant to go back in. Horio urged them along, and eventually they went inside just so they wouldn't have to listen to him anymore. They cautiously walked up the steps, and were almost instantly spotted by Kawamura, who had left Tezuka and their coach to themselves in the office. His eyes widened. "You're back!"

They both nodded, a little embarrassed. Kawamura scowled. "You go in there and apologize to Tezuka right now! He won't talk to anyone because you guys left! He's worried sick!"

"He's not my dad," Ryouma said bitterly. Momo looked at him nervously.

"Well, he's in charge, and he was really worried! I was too! If I wasn't so happy to see that you guys aren't dead, I'd punch you!"

Ryouma brushed past him. Momo pat Kawamura on the shoulder as he followed his defiant kouhai towards Ryuzaki's office. When they entered, they met the eyes of Ryuzaki, who looked at them sternly before gesturing to Tezuka, who had his back turned to them coldly, his hands still folded in front of his face.

Ryouma stalked over to him and sat on the desk next to the one Tezuka was sitting at. "We're back."

Tezuka slowly turned towards Ryouma. For a moment, a relieved smile lit up his face, kicking the wind out of Ryouma's chest. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and Tezuka was slapping Ryouma fiercely. The boy toppled off of the desk and onto the floor. He glared up at his captain, who was seething. "Echizen," he said, low and grumbly. "One hundred laps."

Ryouma snorted, raising his eyebrows. "Like hell am I doing that-"

Tezuka's glare stopped him, turning his cocky smile turn into a frown. "_Two hundred laps._"

Ryouma grumbled something offensive under his breath before getting up and jogging out of the room. Tezuka turned his attention to Momo, who flinched. "We'll discuss your punishment later," Tezuka growled. Momo nodded, fleeing from the room after Ryouma. Ryuzaki chuckled from her spot by the door. Tezuka stared at her. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Nice to see you're feeling better."

Tezuka looked away, not bothering to answer her.


	9. Chapter 9: RIKKAI EDITION

Meanwhile, over at St Rudolphs…

Rikkai had taken over the cafeteria. The doors were barricaded with tables and plastic trays were taped against the windows. They were protesting - if they weren't allowed to leave, then St. Rudolph wasn't allowed to enjoy their nice campus cafeteria!

It wasn't really working. Marui chomped on his bubblegum in frustration. "Why the _hell _isn't this working? I thought they loved their cafeteria!"

"You should have locked them out of their dorms," Niou said. He was bored as heck. Marui wouldn't let him _or _Yagyuu leave, which was annoying. What were two tricksters to do if they weren't allowed to play tricks?

Well, Yagyuu was plenty happy folding paper napkins into fancy little swans or whatever, but Niou wasn't a fucking _dweeb. _"Have you ever been in their dorms, Marui? They're real swanky. Rikkai should have been a private school."

"You wouldn't be able to afford it," Yagyuu mused.

Niou grabbed the rose Yagyuu had folded and crumpled it in retaliation. Yagyuu simply stared at him sternly. "Just saying."

"Well, they're stuck in there now!" Marui snapped. "So they _better _be nice! Because I'm never going to let them walk through here again!"

Nobody had the heart, or the balls, to tell Marui that there was another hallway leading from the dorms to the main part of the school. Let him have his fun.

Kirihara didn't know either. "Yeah!" He cheered enthusiastically. Marui nodded smugly.

As he was drinking in his pride, Yanagi was scribbling in his notebook, as he was a data man. Well, he wasn't writing data at all actually. Niou crept over to him and peeked over his shoulder, wrinkling his nose. Their data man was doodling caricatures of his teammates.

"Those are good," Niou complimented. "For an amateur. Gimme that."

While they fought over the notebook, There was a crash at the door. The table that pressed up against the door was now flipped over and the door was open. Marui was devastated, not because his barricade didn't work, but because _Mizuki _of all people could break through.

The brunette stood in the doorway, looking flushed. "Rikkai! We need your assistance!"

"We'd never help you!" Marui cried, throwing his arms in the air. Kirihara yelled "yeah!" and jumped up alongside his senpai.

"I don't care about your stupid rebellion," Mizuki snapped back. "You know we have another way to get around it, right?"

Marui looked like he had gotten punched. Kirihara winced in embarrassment and took a seat. Yanagi finished his scuffle with Niou by pushing him away and turning his attention to Mizuki, much to Niou's despair. "What is the problem, Mizuki?"

"W_eeeeell_," Mizuki drawled, playing with a curl of his hair. "You know that team of misfits, Yamabuki? Well, they're here, and they want _you _to help them with some problem they're having, or whatever."

"They want _us_?" Jackal asked incredulously.

Mizuki rolled his eyes. "Well, not for _you _specifically, but I know that you are totally bored just sitting in this dreary cafeteria all day. You know we have a much better one, right? St. Rudolph has only the best."

Marui looked mortified. The entire Rikkai team was a little embarrassed for him as well as themselves. Kirihara, however, still had some fight in him. "We won't help anyone until our captain comes back!"

"Yeah!" Niou and Marui chorused.

Yanagi had an idea. "If we help Yamabuki in place of St. Rudolph, will you let us go after Sanada and Yukimura ourselves?"

Mizuki shrugged. "It's not like we were really stopping you to begin with. Like I care about what you imbeciles do. I'm not even the captain."

* * *

Rikkai followed Mizuki to the main desk. Standing behind it was a frail looking boy in the St. Rudolph uniform and a pair of glasses. And standing in front of it was two boys in Yamabuki's tell-tale obnoxiously white school uniform. Rikkai recognized the two boys as Sengoku and Masami, the vice captain.

Sengoku turned to Mizuki and Rikkai, his face lighting up. "It's Rikkai! Masami, it's Rikkai-"

"What is Rikkai doing here?" The other boy sneered.

Rikkai and Yamabuki didn't get along very well - Rikkai was guilty of snubbing Yamabuki on numerous occasions back when the world wasn't overrun with zombies. Rikkai would never go play practice games with them - that was really rude. As if Yamabuki weren't even worth the game. Yamabuki would have been really great if they had played against Rikkai.

Which would have prevented this whole thing. Sengoku began to explain. "We're under attack! There are zombies…everywhere! They…they're killing our members! We've already lost so many…Please, you've got to come help us! Please!"

"Don't you have that big gray guy to kill stuff for you," Kirihara sniffed, narrowing his eyes at the two pleading members.

"If he was still there, we wouldn't need to come begging for help. Especially not at _St. Rudolph's,_" Masami said indignantly, but the desperation in his voice was obvious. "Please, you've got to help us. We'll make it worth your while."

There was a moment of silence as Sengoku and Masami held a staring contest with Rikkai. Finally, Jackal let out a massive sigh and looked at his team. "C'mon guys, let's help them. It'd be cruel not to."

"It would be," Yagyuu muttered, not looking too pleased regardless. He hated affiliating with riffraff like Yamabuki (though he did hang out with Niou…against his will), but he wouldn't be so cruel to just ignore their desperate pleas.

"We accept," Yanagi answered for the team. He was their surrogate leader in the absence of Yukimura and Sanada. "Let's go."

Mizuki clapped Yanagi on the back, and then crept his hand up the back of Yanagi's neck and played with his hair. Yanagi stared at him. "You're _so_ brave."

"Please don't touch me…"

"Sooo brave," Mizuki cooed before fluttering away.


	10. Chapter 10: YAMABUKI EDITION

Yamabuki really was a team of scalawags. They were known for their silly behavior and their terrible tennis techniques before the disease hit Japan. After the zombies came, Yamabuki was barely protected and it was a miracle that they survived at all. Their school was a shell of a building, which the team never went in anymore due to the zombie infestation locked up inside. They stayed in a small camp set up towards the back of their school. When asked what they'd do if the zombies that were once their old friends ever broke out of the school and killed them, they didn't answer.

Each Rikkai member was aware of Yamabuki's failure to save themselves against the zombie apocalypse, but each also had enough tact to not ask if their barricades of the doors had failed. The dooming presence of zombies was enough to make even the most villainous of teams shiver. Except Hyoutei. They never shivered.

The problem was obvious as soon as Yamabuki was visible in the distance. Zombies swarmed around the school, groaning loudly and probably alerting every zombie in the ten mile radius. Rikkai immediately went into action, pummeling the zombies efficiently. If Rikkai was one thing, they were extremely efficient, if not a little boring. They didn't speak, or yell out any obnoxious move names. They were deadly killers. Silent but deadly. That's what Rikkai was.

The team moved into the schoolyard, Sengoku and Masami in tow. The Yamabuki members were pathetically under equipped, which worried the Rikkai members that noticed. If they were unequipped and running through the wasteland of Japan to St. Rudolph alone, they must have really needed help. They approached the Yamabuki campsite, where smoke rose from a fire that had caught on one of the tents. It was a slow fire, wearing away the fabric of the tent, that made the air tremble around them.

"Who's there?" Someone called from inside the other tent, the one that wasn't on fire. A face peered around the entrance. It was Muromachi, the sunglasses toting Yamabuki member. Sometimes people said that his sunglasses looked like goggles. Well they definitely aren't goggles. They're glasses. His face lit up at the sight of Sengoku and Masami. "Sengoku!"

As Rikkai and the two stray Yamabuki members neared the tent, they were hit with the strong smell of blood. Inside of the tent, the captain of Yamabuki, Minami, lay on the ground between Kita and Nitobe, who were gently wiping at a deep wound on the captain's chest.

"Jesus," Niou muttered.

"Rikkai?" Kita asked, voice cynical.

"I thought you went to get _St. Rudolph_," Nitobe said bitterly. The doubles pair didn't like Rikkai very much at all.

Minami struggled to sit up slightly, and the doubles players turned their attention back to their captain, gently helping him rise. "Rikkai. It's good to see you. Are you here to help?"

"Yes," Yanagi said before any of his fellow members could answer before him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"The zombies caught us off guard," Minami explained. "Someone…I didn't recognize them, they must have been from a nearby team that disbanded…but he ran through our camp and all these zombies were following him. We don't have any more tennis balls, so we had to fight them off with whatever we could…"

He coughed, and blood dribbled down his lips. Nitobe quickly wiped it away. The Yamabuki members looked sadly at their captain. Clearly, he was in no shape to be fighting the zombies anymore. Rikkai felt pretty awkward, like they were intruding on Yamabuki's personal matters. They had come thinking there would be more zombies - if the small hoard they had fought was all that there was, then Yamabuki was much weaker than they, or anyone, had thought.

But maybe that had something to do with a certain member missing. "Where's Akutsu?" Yanagi asked.

The entirety of Yamabuki looked disheartened at the mention of the name. "He left," Kita said.

"He left when we abandoned the school," Nitobe added.

Kita nodded. "He never liked Minami-san's decisions."

"Jerk," Nitobe said after a moment.

"I know it's pathetic that we can't hold our own without him," Minami finally said, his voice quiet. "We appreciate your help."

Yanagi crossed his arms. "We'll look for more zombies. You stay here. Actually, Jackal, stay here. Try to help with Minami, okay?"

Jackal nodded and entered the tent, kneeling beside Yamabuki's captain. The rest of Rikkai turned and went back towards the school, tennis rackets ready.


	11. Chapter 11

Ryouma was being punished way too hard. He thought so anyway. He sighed dramatically as he looked out of the window down at the street below, littered with stray tennis balls that Horio and the other two had never picked up.

Tezuka had sent him to the end of the school that nobody ever went into anymore because the emergency lights there had run out of power. It was dark down there, and spooky, if you were a _baby_ maybe. And Ryouma wasn't a baby, unlike the rest of Seigaku. He was actually pretty bored. Tezuka had made sure that he would have nothing to do, the jerk.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the building, Momo was slamming his hands, open palmed, onto Tezuka's desk. He leaned over it, going nose to nose with his captain. "Tezuka, we _saw _him! Oishi's living just a few minutes away! We could walk there before it even got _dark _out-"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tezuka grunted.

"We have to get Oishi back in Seigaku!"

Kawamura nervously looked at Tezuka. He knew Tezuka wasn't going to take the news of Oishi's continued existence well.

Not in a negative way. Tezuka loved Oishi - Oishi was his vice captain, after all, even now. Tezuka would go out and try to recruit Oishi again himself, even if he said he wouldn't. Despite the captain's reservations, his loyalty to his old friend was stronger.

"We can't force him to come back," Tezuka said after a few moments. "It was his decision to leave, so it will have to be his decision to come back."

"Captain!" Momo said, shocked. "You can't be serious-!"

"This conversation is over," Tezuka said forcefully, glaring at Momo. They continued their staring battle for a few moments before Momo gave up, turning and leaving in a huff.

Kawamura looked cautiously at a tense Tezuka. "Tezuka…"

"No," Tezuka snapped, rubbing his forehead. "Be quiet."

Kawamura complied.

* * *

Down the hall, Inui was busy concocting a juice that would pack a punch if he was able to make a zombie drink it. He was interrupted when his disgruntled kouhai, Momo, burst in, red-faced and angry. "Momoshiro," he said calmly, but was shaken out of his calmness when Momo grabbed him and shook him.

"Can't you talk some sense into Tezuka?" Momo said, eyes fiery. "He won't go get Oishi!"

"Oishi?" Inui echoed.

"Oishi!" Momo released Momo and let out an agonized groan. "Oishi is living out in a _cave_! We need to get him back here! He looked so sad!"

Inui carefully placed the container of juice he was holding onto a desk. "I'm sure Tezuka didn't mean anything ill-willed by it, Momoshiro."

"It's just _annoying_," Momo huffed. Kaidoh walked in, having heard the commotion from outside. He scowled at Momo, who ignored him. "What's wrong with Tezuka? Oishi was his best friend. Why doesn't he want to go out there and just save him?"

Inui didn't respond. Kaidoh slid into the chair at Inui's desk. He sniffed at the juice Inui had made and grunted in disgust. Momo continued.

"It's like he doesn't want to be captain. All he does is try to stay -neutral- about everything, and it pisses me off."

"Don't say that kind of shit about buchou," Kaidoh hissed. Momo glared at him. "We're in a fucking _zombie apocalypse_. He's trying his hardest."

"But is he _really_?" Momo asked. Kaidoh glared at him, but clamped his mouth shut.

Inui sighed, rubbing at his spiky head. "We have to trust Tezuka, Momoshiro. That's all we can do right now." He picked up his juice and smiled at Kaidoh. "Kaidoh, would you care to help me test this drink out?"

Momo rest his head on his desk as Kaidoh followed Inui out of the room. Something had to be done about their captain, even if Momo was going to be the one to do it.


	12. Chapter 12

Sanada couldn't _believe _that they were lost.

He scratched at his head, looking down at his compass. They were supposed to be heading due north, but for some reason, they just couldn't find St. Rudolph's again. Maybe he was holding his compass the wrong way. Wait, that wouldn't effect it, would it? Sanada scratched at his head again.

Behind him trailed Yukimura, looking serene despite being extremely infuriated. Sanada was avoiding talking to his captain, because he knew that the feminine boy was enraged, and Yukimura angry was a Yukimura Sanada didn't want to deal with. Not when they were LOST, in some abandoned, zombie-ridden city. Maybe when they were back at home.

_That's right,_ Sanada remembered. _We don't have a home. _He utterly hated imposing on St. Rudolph like that - mostly because he saw their data man as an annoyance and their captain incapable - but also because Rikkai shouldn't have to impose on anyone. They were a strong, capable team with some of the toughest tennis players that Japan had to offer.

And yet, here were the captain and the co-captain, wandering through a deserted city with a (clearly) defective compass, completely and despairingly lost.

"Sanada," Yukimura said, his voice sending a shiver up Sanada's spine. "How much longer are you going to play games? Take us home. I'm…very tired."

"I-I'm not playing a game," Sanada said gruffly, fidgeting with the brim of his cap. "I think we're lost, Yukimura."

Yukimura stepped towards Sanada and rest gently against him, startling the taller boy. Yukimura's eyes closed and he sighed, the angry tension in his shoulders melting away. "I'm so tired…"

Sanada panicked. Yukimura tired more like Yukimura DEAD, am I right? They had been walking for a few hours, and the other boy _was _showing signs of illness….Ignoring that, he wrapped an arm around the smaller boy and nodded firmly. He had to get Yukimura back, and fast!

They walked quickly through the city, but also quietly as to not catch any attention. Sanada was skilled through walking by cities undetected, but maybe not as much as he would have liked. He kicked an empty can across the street and winced as it clattered loudly against the pavement.

"Hey!" Sanada jumped, nearly dropping Yukimura from his side. He turned, heart thumping loudly in his ears. He couldn't see anyone around, and he thought that maybe he was crazy.

"_Hey_!" No, there was definitely someone nearby, shouting in a hushed tone. They probably weren't shouting, but it was so quiet that they may as well have been. Sanada whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Yukimura groaned sickly, and Sanada panicked again.

"Yukimura-"

"Hey, are you two from Rikkai?" Sanada finally caught a glimpse of a red uniform peeking out from behind a convenience store window. A face formed in the shadows, and Sanada recognized him as the vice-captain of the Rokkaku team, Saeki Kojirou. The boy looked concerned. Rokkaku and Rikkai had met briefly before the zombies had become a problem, but they didn't know each other well. "Come over here, quick."

Sanada shuffled over to the store and opened the door carefully. Saeki launched forward and stopped the door when it was about half-opened. "There's bells," was his explanation for why he had caught Sanada halfway through the doorframe. His eyes widened. "Oh, you're Sanada!" He looked down at Yukimura, who was also halfway wedged in the door. "And Yukimura!" He frowned, looking even more concerned than before.

Rokkaku had heard about Rikkai's recent misfortune with the barbaric Higa Chuu, pirates of the sea AND land. The double whammy. They were Rokakku's biggest enemy, so they felt very sympathetic towards Rikkai's cause. However, they hadn't realized the pirates had gone so far as to KILL the rest of Rikkai….

"The rest of the team is with St. Rudolph, if you're wondering," Sanada said plainly. "We're…uh…"

"We're lost," Yukimura said. Sanada startled, looking down at his captain, who had his eyes open and alert. "My vice-captain seemed to have gotten us off track."

"You're _really _off track if you're supposed to be with St. Rudolph," Saeki said. Sanada still blamed the compass. "Listen, how about you two come with me? We'll help you get back to St. Rudolph tomorrow."

Sanada agreed and allowed Saeki to lead them out of the back of the store, where there were no bells to be rung. Sanada was thankful that he wasn't going to be sandwiched between a door and Yukimura again anytime soon.

"Echizen! Wake up!"

Ryouma rolled over, scowling. It was _way _too early to be awake.

"Echizen, c'mon. I know you're awake."

He had been dreaming about all the tennis competitions that must have been going on in America right then. He wished he had been in America when the zombie plague hit.  
Ryouma was jerked out of the pleasant thought of tennis by Momo, who was kneeling beside the bench Ryouma had taken to sleeping on at night. It was covered in blankets and pillows, but it was still a bench, which made sleeping a little rough, but he could handle it. He was the prince of tennis after all. "What?" Ryouma spat, glaring at his senpai. "What could you POSSIBLY want at -" He looked down at his wrist. he wasn't wearing a watch, but he knew about what time it was anyway. "Five AM?!"

"I need to talk to you. Alone." Momo looked strangely serious. Momo was never serious, not even when he was playing in a serious match. That was something Ryouma didn't like about him. But now, he didn't like Momo's serious expression either. Maybe he just didn't like Momo at all.

"…fine," Ryouma grunted, swinging his legs over the side of the bench and allowing Momo to sit beside him. "What do you want?"

Momo cut to the chase. "I think we need to appoint a new captain."

Ryouma looked appalled. A new captain?! "Are you crazy?" Ryouma hissed, incredulous. "Tezuka's been our captain for so long-"

"Exactly," Momo muttered. "I respect him, which is why I think it's time that he stepped down. He's been through too much," Momo continued. Ryouma's shocked expression had melted away and was replaced by one of assimilation. At least he was listening. "After Eiji died, Oishi left and Fuji disappeared, he hasn't been the same. He didn't even try to look for us, and he was obviously worried. Do you really think he's fit to be a captain anymore? We didn't even know Rikkai had been attacked because he never talks to any other captains anymore!"

Ryouma understood where Momo was coming from. He sighed, rubbing at his face. Momo was surprisingly good at arguing against their captain. Ryouma had been thinking the same thing, and the rest of the team probably had been too - Tezuka's captaincy had lost much of the vigor he had had before the plague, and the condition of Seigaku was evidence of that.  
Ryouma sighed again. This was all too much! The whole team would have to be convinced that Tezuka should step down before the captain actually would step down. It would be too difficult - Kaidoh and Inui were dedicated to their captain. "What happens if you can't get him to step down?" Ryouma asked, looking at his senpai.

Momo looked thoughtful, his face drawn. "Then we'll leave, or make our own team," he said. Ryouma was shocked. "We can't just sit back and not do anything anymore. It'll be the death of us."

Ryouma was amazed that the seemingly simple-minded boy had thought all of this through. He nodded after a few moments of deliberation. "Alright," he said. "I'll go along with you."  
Momo looked overjoyed, but Ryouma shoved him off of his bench and curled back up into his makeshift bed. "Now leave. I've still got two hours of sleep."

What the two boys hadn't realized was that someone had been listening in on their conversation. He had gotten up to do his daily training, and had seen Momo sneakily sneaking down to the locker rooms, where Ryouma slept. He had followed along, just as sneakily, and waited outside to hear what they were saying.

It was an understatement to say that Kaidoh was shocked. He was astonished that they were even thinking of such a thing. He got away quickly after hearing Momo fall to the floor with a string of curses.

It was totally idiotic. They would never get the rest of the team to agree with them! Inui and Kawamura would definitely be on Tezuka's side. No matter what! DEFINITELY!

_But would they, really?_ Kaidoh frowned as he jogged down the hallway. _And would he?_  
He, just like Ryouma and Momo, had noticed Tezuka's sudden silence and inability to give orders. Kaidoh had read Inui's file on him, after all. And though the nerd didn't have much data, it was enough to let Kaidoh know that Inui thought Tezuka was no longer a fit captain for their team. The nerd had a weird influence over Kaidoh, so Kaidoh had started thinking that too. It was weird. Kaidoh had never realized all the little quirks that Tezuka had now that he hadn't had before reading Inui's data file.

He continued with his morning training, jogging in place at the door before stepping out into the hazy morning air. A chill crept through his body and he hissed before breaking out into a sprint.

Whenever he ran, he would make sure to scan the perimeter of the school to make sure nothing looked disorderly or out of place. Usually, everything was fine or slightly ajar due to the wind moving it about, but today something looked different.

The "something" was the place that they had deemed the "graveyard". It was between two of their tennis courts, and they had planted two wooden posts into the dirt with names painted on each. It was awfully depressing and one of the reasons that nobody wanted to play on the outside courts anymore.

Sat at one of the graves was Tezuka, head dipped. Kaidoh came to the fence and peered through the chains at his captain.

Tezuka wasn't crying or anything, but it was obvious that he was sad. His shoulders were hunched and he was chewing at his bottom lip. He looked up after a few moments, towards Kaidoh, making the younger boy nearly leap out of his shoes.

"Kaidoh," Tezuka said loudly and clearly, with a twinge of embarrassment. He pushed up his glasses. "You're training early. Good."

"Y-yeah," Kaidoh stuttered. He leaned against the fence, and it rattled noisily. "Just…training. Um, what are you doing here?"

Tezuka stared at him. Kaidoh stared back. "Sitting."

"Do you miss Fuji?" Kaidoh blurted. "And Eiji and Oishi? Because we all do."

The captain did something he would have never expected - he sighed. He pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to the fence. Kaidoh suddenly remembered a song the Ichinen trio had conjured one day during practice about Tezuka being forty years old, and right now he could have believed them - the other boy looked weary and tired, like he had been through too much to bear. Or bare. I'm not sure.

"I don't think anyone realizes just how much I miss them," Tezuka said. It was a powerful statement. Kaidoh felt tears rush to his eyes. But he didn't cry. Not in front of buchou!  
"Then why don't you get them back?" Kaidoh rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, except Eiji, I guess. But that idiot Momo said Eiji was still alive, so…"

Tezuka didn't say anything, his eyes averted downwards. Kaidoh felt awkward, watching the older boy stand there, so he backpedalled, waving his hand. "Uh, never mind, buchou. I'm going to go finish my run. See you later." And then he turned and jogged away, leaving the captain to himself. Kaidoh could hear the fence rattle as the captain fell against it. He hissed slowly.


	13. Chapter 13

It wasn't like Rikkai had ever visited Rokkaku's team, so Sanada didn't have any prior expectations as to what they'd find once they left the city. Well, he knew that they resided on a beach, but other than that…he knew nothing. However, it he _had _had any expectations, they would have been totally blown away from what he found.

What he found was an active community of self-sustaining beach bums. It was a long expanse of sunny, warm beach that was populated with people of all sorts, not just the team. Sanada was amazed. Ever since the outbreak, he hadn't seen a place this populated since…well, ever.

They were all wearing Hawaiian styled shirts and bermuda shorts, and looked like they were on vacation instead of being in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Hell, they even had a pig over a roast! What was this, a Hawaiian vacation?!

As Sanada shuffled through the sand, shocked at the good living conditions Rokkaku had been hiding away with, he caught a glance of the ships just offshore, gently bobbing in the waves. There were several with red sails and busy crews, but further out were purple sailed ships, looking positively ghostly from the shore. There didn't appear to be anyone on board.

Sanada clenched his jaw. _Higa. _Saeki followed his line of sight. "Yeah, those are some Higa ships - they've been there for a long time. We don't think there's anyone on board anymore, because we've gone over on our ships. Don't worry about them."

"I didn't know Higa Chuu had a navy," Sanada muttered.

Saeki laughed. "This isn't war, Sanada-san! They're just a little rebellious, is all!"

Sanada didn't know about that. Higa Chuu would be the team to have a powerful naval force. Saeki, and the rest of Rokkaku, didn't seem to mind, however.

Saeki led Sanada and Yukimura to a hut on the partially sand-submerged boardwalk and pushed aside the door for them to enter. As the two Rikkai members entered, they were hit with the scent of sandalwood incense, which was burning on the sill of a window. Sanada blinked down in the dimly lit room and looked upon the team's captain, Aoi Kentaro, who was known best for being the youngest captain in the league, and was also sitting on a purple pillow on the floor. He had been writing in a small, leather-bound book before he had been interrupted.

The boy didn't seem much like a captain - he was small and had big bright eyes and an excited voice. "Hello!" He said, surprised. "You're Sanada-san and Yukimura-san of Rikkai, right? What are you doing here?"

"I found them wandering around," Saeki mentioned. Sanada turned and saw the other boy leaning against the doorframe.

Aoi looked shocked. "Are they our hostages?! I thought we agreed - no wars!"

"We're not hostages," Sanada said gruffly. As if he'd let himself be taken hostage by the likes of Rokkaku! Aoi gestured down in front of him and Sanada sat down in front of the boy, and Yukimura followed him, tucking his legs beneath him neatly. "We were…uh…"

"Lost," Yukimura said tightly. He stared directly at Aoi. Yukimura was always serious when he dealt with other captains. He had to be diplomatic, after all. "We were lost and your vice-captain was kind enough to bring us here."

Aoi, though relieved to hear that it wasn't the beginnings of a war with RIKKAI, of all teams, was troubled. "We've never had another team here before. Well, Higa Chuu, but they're barely a team anymore."

"We're sorry for imposing on your team," Yukimura said. He bowed down slightly, and Sanada was quick to follow suit. "We'll leave as soon as possible."

The Rokkaku captain nodded. He shut the journal he had been writing in and crossed his arms. He pursed his lips, looking between Sanada and Yukimura and then to Saeki, "So, uh…" He shifted uncomfortably underneath the stern, serious stares of the Rikkai leaders. "Is like…your team okay? I know Higa Chuu attacked it, but…"

"Our team is fine," Yukimura said in a clipped tone. Sanada nodded.

"That's good," Aoi said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I was really worried! Everyone was really worried!"

"I'm sure," Yukimura said. His voice was cold, but he meant well - it was nice to know that people had cared about the powerful team.

Meanwhile, outside of the hut, the rest of Rokkaku had assembled and each was looking excitedly at each other with wide eyes. Saeki had joined them.

"I can't believe Rikkai is here!" Kurobane (who will now be called Bane) exclaimed, looking impressed. He crossed his arms and looked at Saeki. "How did you manage to get them here?"

"I found them in the city," Saeki said. "They were just kind of wandering around, so I thought maybe they could come here."

"Wandering around!" The whole team said collectively, astonished. Two of Rikkai's strongest, just wandering around near Rokkaku?! "Maybe they're going to declare war on us!" Itsuki gasped.

"Weren't they just attacked by Higa?" Ryou said, looking thoughtful. "Maybe they're the only ones left…"

The entirety of Rokkaku silenced. What a terrible thought! "Don't worry," Saeki said, brightening the mood. "They're definitely all alive. Sanada said so."

They all sighed, relieved. But still, they were excited that Rikkai was there! Rikkai was like…a celebrity! The entire Rokkaku beach seemed to be electrified with excitement. A couple of girls, who had caught a glance of Sanada and Yukimura, two total bishonens, had wandered over and were giggling, waiting for the Rikkai hotties to emerge from Aoi's hut.

"They never giggle like that for us," Dabide bemoaned. "Maybe Rikkai being here isn't such a good thing!"

"It's _totally _a good thing," Bane scolded his doubles partner by slamming his elbow into his side. "I mean, once they see us talking to Sanada and Yukimura, they'll be all over _us_, right?"

Itsuki's nose whistled. Everyone could agree with that sentiment.

As the rest of Rokkaku fawned over the thought of _babes_, Saeki returned his attention to eavesdropping in on his captain's conversation (He already got tons of babes so he didn't need to think about it).

Aoi was frowning, looking awkwardly at the Rikkai players. The two in yellow were weirdly stiff and proper, which obviously made Aoi, who was casually sitting cross-legged, uncomfortable. Saeki snickered.

When he turned back to his team, they had taken up a spontaneous game of volleyball at a nearby net. When you lived on a beach and there wasn't much to do, volleyball had become a more popular sport than tennis - their courts were located in the nearby town, after all, and that wasn't safe anymore. It was sad, but hey, they weren't too shabby at volleyball either.

They still weren't very good, though. Bane slammed the volleyball with all of his might and it fired through the air, sailing past Saeki with such a force that it knocked him back a little.

Sanada watched in horror as the sudden volleyball collided with the back of Yukimura's head. It held there for a moment, spinning angrily against the back of the captain's head before it ricocheted and Yukimura fell forward, catching his forehead on Aoi's side table.

"Yu…" Sanada stared down at his captain, horrified. Aoi looked as shocked as Sanada was, his hands frozen in front of him. The volleyball bounced a little beside him before rolling to a stop. Sanada's face darkened as he realized what had just happened.

"_**YUKIMURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**_!"

"Oh my gosh," Aoi exclaimed. He jumped up as Sanada reached over and roughly pulled Yukimura towards him. "Oh my gosh - I'll go get some ice-"

"NO!" Sanada hollered, looking panicked. "Ice damages his skin! He's very **DELICATE!**!"

Aoi looked lost, unsure of what to do to soothe the MONSTER in front of him. What was he supposed to do?! Oh god, what was he gonna do?!

"What do you want me to do, Sanada-san-"

"I WOULD LIKE TO RETURN TO MY TEAM," Sanada roared, glaring hotly at the young captain. Yukimura moaned, and Sanada's anger was quickly replaced with concern. "Seiichi! Are you alright?"

"Genichiro…" Yukimura said softly, before reaching up and rubbing at his forehead. "What-"

"You got hurt, it's fine though, you're fine, right?" Sanada said quickly, rubbing at the back of Yukimura's head a little awkwardly, checking for bumps.

Yukimura nodded and Sanada let out the greatest sigh that Aoi had ever heard. He quickly escaped his hut, thinking it would be best if he left them alone, and crashed into his team, who had once again huddled around the doorway. This time, instead of interest and excitement, they looked absolutely horrified.

"CAPTAIN!" Bane cried, throwing himself at Aoi's feet. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit the ball so hard! It just happened!"

Aoi blinked. "You hit it?"

Bane nodded guiltily. He looked like he was going to cry. When his captain ruffled his hair, beaming proudly, he was confused. Aoi gave him the thumbs up. "Good hit! This is why you're one of our best players!" Then he became serious, frowning. "Still, you hit Yukimura-san. Sanada-san is furious."

The team was relieved that Aoi wasn't _too _mad with them. At the same time, they were worried - they had never incurred the wrath of someone powerful like Sanada! The scary boy stepped out of Aoi's hut with Yukimura in his arms and a tear in his eye and, somewhere deep down, a song in his heart. A song about…mayonnaise...

Bane, stricken with terror at the sight of the two boys, hid behind Saeki. The girls by the tree squealed. Sanada was holding Yukimura like a bride! Kakkoiiii!

No. Not kakkoi. This is serious business. Sanada threw a glare at them and their screeching came to a quiet.

"You're leaving?" Aoi said lightly.

Sanada's eyes scanned the Rokkaku team, who looked at him worriedly. Well, in Bane's case, in terror. Sanada's eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw. "No. Show me to a hut where Yukimura and I can stay. We're leaving tomorrow."

Rokkaku was shocked, but they were quick to comply, offering up one of the regular's huts to the Rikkai boys. Whew, that was a close one.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Grief is everywhere! So keep your eyes peeled._

_-Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

It had been a day like any other.

Tezuka had woken up and was bandaging up his elbow, which had been bothering him lately. It had always bothered him, but for some reason, ever since the outbreak, it had been more sore than usual. He had grown mostly used to it, but hey. It didn't hurt to look after it.

Inui was in there with him, concocting some kind of healing potion or lethal poison or something which he claimed would "cure all that ails Tezuka". The captain wasn't so sure about that, but he went along with it anyway, because he enjoyed Inui's company.

That's when it happened.

Momoshiro had come in, looking frenzied, and had said the fateful words:

"Come downstairs!"

By the time Tezuka made it outside, he already knew. The normally stale air had the metallic scent of blood. The rest of the team was by the main gate, circling around Oishi, who was sitting on the concrete with a bushel of red hair in his lap.

Eiji was barely alive. The normally excited, active boy had a tired expression on his face and wearily smiled whenever he spoke. "Fuji and I were…just playing a little game and…" He shrugged, and Oishi's grip on him tightened. "We got noticed…"

The team had waited in silence as Inui worked hard, trying to tend Eiji's wounds over the next week. They just wouldn't stop _bleeding, _or so said Inui to Tezuka and Oishi one late night.

When Eiji finally passed on, Oishi wasn't with him. Only Inui was. In the dim light of the nurses office, he set his glasses down and sighed.

While Oishi mourned openly with the rest of the team, Tezuka mourned in solitude. He sat late at night in his office, gazing down at his palms and wondering why this had happened. He wondered why it felt so empty in his office without the constant presence of a gentle boy with soft brown hair.

Everyone was upset about Eiji. But everyone was _scared _about Fuji.

Fuji hadn't come back like Eiji did, grasping onto his life with every thread of his being. Fuji had simply…vanished. Like he hadn't gone out with Eiji that day to play tennis at all. Eiji hadn't said anything about him, either, which made the event even more troubling. It haunted the team, knowing that they could disappear so easily.

But it didn't haunt anyone like it haunted Tezuka. Each night, Tezuka would stay awake a little bit longer, his careful eyes trained on the happenings of the night outside of his window, just past the line of untended cactus plants that had been lovingly placed on the windowsill. With each twitch of movement at the gate, his heart raced a little faster, and when it turned out to be his tired eyes playing a trick on him, he'd feel another piece of himself cracking away.

Momo was surprised at the support he received from Inui.

Inui was able to explain himself. "I agree that Tezuka is not an able captain anymore. I think someone else should take over for awhile, at least to get this team back up and running. Perhaps we could strike up a deal with Fudomine…"

"Inui-senpai!" Kaidoh exclaimed. "You're not seriously going to believe this guy, are you?!"

"Kaidoh." Inui spoke sternly, and Kaidoh quickly grew quiet. Momo wondered wtf that was about - the viper never shut up for anyone! Anyway, Inui went on. "My data concludes that Tezuka should have stepped down as captain immediately after Eiji's death and Fuji's disappearance, but nobody could have known that. Not even me, the data master."

Momo nodded. It was true, after all.

"So I'm with you, Momoshiro." Inui flashed him a smile and returned to his work. "And Kaidoh will agree with you as well," he added briefly, and the extremely snaky boy reacted violently, slapping a couple of bottles off of the lab table Inui worked at. "Be careful, Kaidoh," was all Inui said.

* * *

Off camera, Momo had easily gotten the rest of Seigaku's agreement to ask Tezuka to step down. It was really crazy.

* * *

Tezuka hadn't been the captain he wanted to be after Fuji departed. He knew that was why the rest of his team trickled into his office on that day, Momoshiro leading the pack.

"Buchou," he began with a barking, authoritative tone. "We need to talk to you."

Ryuzaki, who normally stood by Tezuka, his only true ally, wasn't present. "Proceed," he said quietly, his body feeling numb, as if he had been surrounded in ice. _Ice_….heh….

"We respect you, which is why we say this." Momo gulped, his confident tone wavering. "We…we want you to step down as captain."

Tezuka looked at his team. He really _looked _at his team. Seigaku, the heroic underdogs of tennis, were now the sullen-eyed and dispirited loners of Japan. It hurt him to see them this way. He felt as if though the weight on his shoulders grew each time he saw them.

It was shocking, but a good kind of shocking - he shivered under the disappointed glances of his teammates. He had moped enough - it was time to go into action. He nodded and the unsettling feeling deep within him diminished. "Alright."

The team looked shocked. He had agreed?! Momo, despite his (perhaps cocky) confidence, gaped at Tezuka. "Y-you agree?!"

"Of course," Tezuka said, his voice quiet. "Who am I to argue against my team?"

"Are you mad?" Kaidoh asked sheepishly. Momo could have laughed at how much of a FUCKIN' LOSER BABY he was. But he was thinking it too. They all were. Tezuka's extremely calm reaction to being ordered to step down was unsettling.

"Mad?" Tezuka frowned, and then did something that he rarely did - smiled. The team watched him carefully. "No. In fact, I'm glad this happened." He stood from his desk, and the rest of Seigaku flinched, but held their ground. "This is just what I needed, boys. So, who will take over in my place?"

Tezuka's easy acceptance of stepping down worried the team. Maybe Tezuka really was crazy now. But there was something behind his eyes, a determination that fired up something deep within each Seigaku member. "We hadn't really thought of that…" Momo said, watching as Tezuka made to leave his office. "Wait! Tezuka, where are you going?"

Tezuka turned, and for the first time in months, he looked like the strong boy that Seigaku had honored as their captain. "I'm going to find Fuji."

The rest of the team, stunned into silence, watched as he left. Just as the door slipped shut, they burst into an excited cheer, clamoring after their captain. "Buchou!" They cried, colliding with him. "Buchou!"

Ryuuzaki, who could hear their cries from her office on the floor above, smiled to herself. Seigaku was almost back.

* * *

Oishi trekked through an open field, which were typically void of zombies and all life, generally, with a sack thrown over his shoulder and Eiji attached to his wrist by a leash roped around the other boys neck.

"Oi-shi," Eiji murmured, his voice scratchy. "You put it on too tight….nya….."

Oishi smiled. It was one of those good days that Eiji could retain some of his humanity. He was not unprepared had today been a bad day, one where Eiji tried to eat him, but he was glad that it wasn't. He liked when Eiji spoke to him, as busted as his vocal chords were. "Sorry, I'll loosen it the next time we stop. We can't waste time, Eiji!"

"I liked the cave," Eiji said. Oishi looked back at him, and felt his heart freeze. The boy was haggard and had blotchy skin. His hair hung limply by his face, and a piece of his flesh had begun to slump off of his cheek. He just didn't look like the Eiji he had once known and loved anymore. "Why are we going to Hyoutei, Oishi…you never tell me anything…"

"Hm," was all Oishi said. Well, how could he tell his partner anything? He never knew what Eiji would or would not remember nowadays. "Sorry. You'll find out when we get there-"

"I smell someone," Eiji interrupted, eyes darting dangerously around. Oishi stopped ins his tracks, listening carefully. Eiji's remaining senses had begun to heighten after he partially lost his sight and sense of touch. Oishi knew to trust him when he heard or smelled foreign things.

Oishi whipped around to look behind them, expecting to find himself nose to nose with a dangerous stranger, but found nothing. It seemed as if though the entire area around Oishi was empty, save for a small pack of birds that pecked at a carcass hidden beneath a small bush, dragged there by a small animal most likely. "Are you sure it wasn't just on the wind?" Oishi asked. There hadn't been any wind, but he never knew.

Eiji looked defeated and tired as he shrugged sluggishly. "Dunno, nya..."

Oishi sighed, turning back around. Before he could take a step, he watched as the trees ahead of him shook, like they were moving aside to let something through. He turned around again, prepared to make a mad dash from whatever the hell it was, but found the small strip of forest behind him was also shaking dramatically.

_Uh oh,_ he thought.

He was right to think that. SLowly, from the shadows of the trees, emerged a team decked out in scraps of shredded purple clothing. They all had large scars all over their body from fighting zombies brutally and often in combat, rather than tennis. They were barbarous, not just for the way they fought zombies, but for the way that they would not hesitate to attack other humans. They were notorious for their brutal treatment of other teams, and most recently, their destruction of Rikkai's hospital base.

"Higa Chuu," Oishi breathed.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Have you enlisted in your local tennis team? If not, do so today! _

_Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

Higa Chuu was a dangerous team.

They were infamous for being destructive, violent, and having impeccably well kept hair.  
The leader of Higa Chuu, Kite Eishirou, was renowned for being cool and calculative. Also he wore an eyepatch beneath his glasses to hide a vicious scar he had received during the initial zombie invasion. Okay, he hadn't actually gotten injured - he just thought it made him look cool and edgy. And it _did._

The rest of the team was known for their brutality. Chinen Hiroshi was a terrifying giant of a man with sunken in facial features. Hirakoba Rin was a blonde bombshell who would follow his leaders orders regardless of what they were - once he smashed a ball into Rokkaku's coach, Oji's, face! Tanishi Kei was a hulking mass of a MAN who was threatening with his size more than anything. He could eat three cheeseburgers at once, probably. Kai Yuujirou was usually not present with Higa whenever they were traveling across the land. He much preferred the safety of the ocean, and manned the largest of the Higa Chuu Ships, affectionately called the Higa Ships, as captain. He was uaully dressed to the teeth in fancy pirate clothes, despite his special move being viking horn. Wtf. Aragaki Kouichi and Shiranui Tomoya were a doubles pair that hung with Kai on the Higa Ships and could easily trick their opponents into thinking they were ninjas instead of tennis players, also one of them could step ALL THE WAY ACROSS A COURT IN ONE STEP. I assume his legs were just very long. He's probably like 20 ft. tall.

That's enough about Higa. All Oishi knew is that they were baaaad news, and he was unfortunate enough to run into them.

Kite stood at the front, tall and lean-bodied, and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stared at Oishi distastefully. "A Seigaku member? All the way out here?"

"Impossible!" Tanishi bellowed, laughing. "Not unless he's got a death wish!"

There were some members of the team that Oishi didn't recognize, which made him a little apprehensive. He hadn't really heard anything about Higa's triumphs before the Rikkai incident, so he wouldn't have been surprised if the extra members were teammates from other teams taken over by the PIRATES OF TENNIS.

There was one boy in particular in the group that Oishi recognized as someone from another team. They had forfeited just before playing against Seigaku, but he remembered Ryouma's description of the boy. He still had his green uniform on underneath the purple vest he had been given to wear.

"S-Seigaku!" Fukushi Michuru, formerly of Ginka Chuu, gasped, looking frightened. Kite looked annoyed.

"Didn't your team make it to finals? Man up, pansy."

Kite returned his attention to Oishi, who had been too scared to move. At his side, Eiji was restless, trying to pull out of the leash Oishi had him in. Rin scowled, walking forward to get a better look at what exactly was going on here. "Isn't that the Golden Pair?"

"How interesting," Kite said smoothly. He crossed his arms. "I thought Kai killed you."

Oishi bared his teeth. He had always assumed that it was true, but it didn't hurt any less to hear it come out of Kite's mouth. Eiji never really talked about being attacked by Higa and then being left 4 dead. "You bastards."

"Who are you calling a bastard?!" Tanishi cried, lunging forward. Oishi was actually pretty scared - Higa Chuu had upgraded (debatable) their rackets and replaced them with swords, so they could actually kill him if he wasn't careful. Just like how they had KILLED EIJI! ALMOST!

Kite was wise enough to stop Tanishi before Oishi's blood was spilled all over the grass. "Enough," he said coldly. Tanishi spat something about not having to listen to Kite, but fell back regardless. Oishi took a tentative step back, but found himself surrounded by Higa members on all sides. They really had expanded as a team - it was kind of impressive.

"Let us through," he said, his voice wavering slightly.

The whole of Higa Chuu broke out into laughter. "He wants to go through!" Rin cackled.  
Even _Chinen_ was chuckling. How embarrassing. Oishi blushed so hard that his whole freakin' head turned red! Redder than Eiji's hair! Speaking of Eiji, the half-zombified boy was shaking badly, terrified of Higa Chuu now that they had ALMOST KILLED HIM! ALMOST!

Kite didn't seem to notice or care that the half-zombie boy was even scared of them. He was too busy running his hands over his beautiful hair. Rin stepped forward, sneering at Oishi and Eiji. "Where is the rest of your team, Golden Pair? Don't tell me you're out here on your own?"

"We're…" Oishi nodded, frowning. "We're on our own. We're going to Hyoutei."

"_Hyoutei_? Nobody goes to Hyoutei. That's quite a ways away, too," Rin said, raising his eyebrows. "Maybe you should let us…_escort_ you."

"No," Eiji said in a high pitched whisper. "No!"

"Someone shut that mongrel up," Kite muttered bitterly. Kite went over, shoving Oishi out of his way, and slammed the pommel of his sword against the top of Eiji's squishy zombie head. Oishi let out a strangled noise as Eiji slipped to the ground limply.

"Oh my God," Oishi groaned.

"Now come with us," Kite said evenly, glaring at Oishi with such a hostility that now it made sense why Higa Chuu was so feared. "We'll make sure you get to Hyoutei."

**_xx_**

Tezuka knew exactly where to go. It made Momo a little hopeful - he felt pretty proud that he had been the one to get the team back into gear. The entire team was traveling briskly across the lands, smashing zombies to smithereens and crushing their skulls and spines with tennis balls to the bodies, gleefully so, as they hadn't done this as a team in such a long time! They were back, baby!

They were heading towards the Church of Hyoutei, a huge Catholic styled temple that stood much larger than any of the other buildings in the city. Mostly every team saw it as gaudy and horribly extravagant, which was just perfect for Hyoutei's gaudy and horribly extravagant captain.

"Do you think Hyoutei has Fuji?" Ryouma asked, looking annoyed. He didn't like doing things that were superfluous like skipping around from team to team just to be led to somewhere they could have gone first.

"Echizen," Tezuka said, staring at the pillar of Seigaku with a stern glance, and leaving. Ryouma huffed, looking away.

"Hyoutei is a veritable source of information," Inui spoke up, sllliiiiding between Ryouma and their newly inspired captain. "They see everything from that steeple, you know. They've got data even I can't imagine, probably."

"But they're led by…" Ryouma waved his hands out in front of him, trying to find the most PG way to say this. "You know. _That _guy."

Tezuka looked thoughtful. "He's not that bad."

"Yes he is," Ryouma retorted.

The rest of the team murmured their agreement, even Kawamura, who was usually so neutral about things like that. Tezuka sighed. "We won't stay long. We have a mission, Seigaku."

Everyone perked up, cheering "yes!" and energetically following their captain towards the tall building that blocked out the sun.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Loose lips sink ships. Prince of Tennis ships, that is. Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

Niou wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. "Whew! All that zombie killing has really got me thirsty. I'd do anything for some water. Who's with me?"

Rikkai had just finished pummeling the old Yamabuki school members, each still in their white and green school uniforms. It had taken them a few days, but they had prevailed! Now all that remained was Rikkai standing composed and elegant above the mounds and mounds of dismembered, unrecognizable zombies.

"I second that," Marui moaned, rubbing at a smear of blood that had appeared on his shirt. He sighed. "Zombie blood never washes out."

"I'm sure Yaaagyuu would love to do your laundry," Niou hissed teasingly, nudging his partner humorously.

"No I wouldn't."

"Guys," Yanagi interrupted, looking irritably at his team. "Let's go tell Yamabuki that we cleared out their school, okay?"

The team agreed, and they filed out of the school quickly. It wasn't their job to clean up, after all.

When they approached the tents Yamabuki had set up, they could hear an argument taking place. Rikkai jumped back as a bodily form appeared against the side of the tent and fell backwards, pulling the whole tarp down with them. Luckily, it wasn't the one with Minami and the rest of Yamabuki in it, because Rikkai could see Kita and Nitobe gazing out from the other tent curiously.

Rikkai rushed over, shocked at the sight of the writhing tent people, when a huge form emerged from the fallen tent, ignoring the fact that someone was trapped beneath the tent behind them.

Sengoku struggled out of the tent after him, nose bloodied badly. "Akutsu! Wait!"

The tall, monstrous man that EVERYONE knew as Akutsu Jin looked like he was a zombie himself. His stark white hair was spiked up wildly and his eyes were lined with thick, black marks. He had numerous cuts and bruises all over his body, including a couple of bitemarks up his bare arm, earning him a status as the toughest looking guy in Japan, even above Higa Chuu's toughest members. How a guy like him came from Yamabuki, nobody knew. It was astounding that he hadn't been zombified yet.

The boy stormed off, shoving his way through the cluster of Rikkai members that had watched what just happened. Sengoku wrestled his way out of the tent's hold and raced after him, apologizing as he pushed through the team.

Kirihara hissed like a cat, bristling angrily. "I can't believe he just shoved through us! Who does he think he is!" He spat, looking furious. Who knew Kirihara took being pushed around so seriously?

"That's Akutsu." Kirihara yelped, turning to Kita and Nitobe, who had snuck up as Rikkai stood in shock. They looked thoughtfully at Sengoku and Akutsu as the current Yamabuki member caught the taller boy by the arm.

"We know," Yanagi pressed, but Nitobe and Kita ignored him.

"He's the raddest, baddest dude in all of Japan," Kita said, voice full of admiration and respect. "I hate him, but damn if he's not the strongest man I know."

"See those scars?" Nitobe pointed over to Akutsu, singling out a row of deep scars on his big, juicy bicep. "He got those from fighting. Three zombies. At once!"

"That's a lot of zombies," Marui whistled. Akutsu seemed to have heard them, turning away from Sengoku, who was talking to him, and shooting Rikkai and the two Yamabuki members a hot glare full of hatred. Kirihara yelped, hiding behind Akutsu, despite being one of the strongest terrors of Japan himself. (He was, btw. Monster at times, baby most of the time. Heh).

* * *

Sengoku shoved at Akutsu's shoulder to get the boy's attention. "Akutsu, pay attention to me! Why the hell are you here? Why'd you come back?"

"I heard Yamabuki was in trouble, and someone told me to come lend a hand," he growled, eyes narrow. "And then I get here and see that you got Rikkai to do your dirty work. Fucking disgraceful if you ask me. I'm way better than them, too."

"Who told you that we were in trouble?!" Sengoku gasped. It was true, but it hurt to hear!  
"A little birdie. He's been watching you guys because he just can't let go," Akutsu said, voice surprisingly bitter. Sengoku suddenly understood, his anger melting away. "I'm glad I left," Akutsu continued, looking over to Kite and Nitobe. Sengoku looked disheartened. Akutsu let out a sigh, grunting under his breath. "I'm not coming back. This team is going to fall apart one of these days."

"It's failing because you left," Sengoku said weakly. Akutsu glared at the redhead. Why did he have to sound so fucking sad? Why was everyone so SAD during this zombie apocalypse? Couldn't more people just be more like him, rough and rugged and unafraid of everything, or Dan, upbeat and happy regardless of time or place? Akutsu cursed, wishing he had a cigarette. He would have had some, if Dan hadn't insisted that he get rid of them. He anxiously pat at his jean pockets as Sengoku stared at him in a way that made him almost uncomfortable. But nothing made him uncomfortable. "How is Dan?" Sengoku asked lightly, deciding that it was useless to argue about Akutsu coming about without Dan there. Dan was like Akutsu's conscience, and without him, Akutsu would be stubborn as hell.

Akutsu looked annoyed. "The kid's fine. Probably more than fine. He's always so fucking happy. A little too happy."

"Thanks to you," Sengoku murmured. Honestly, he was happy that Dan had the protection of Akutsu. The poor kid would have already been dead without him.

"Don't say that," Akutsu said gruffly. He glared at Sengoku. "No wonder Yamabuki's falling apart. You're all too fuckin' soft. Grow some hair on your chests already."

"Hey, we all know you have a soft spot for that kid. That's why you let him follow you, right?" Sengoku felt better teasing the taller boy over giving him a guilt trip. He was so easy to tease.

Akutsu snorted. "As if. I tell him to leave all the time." He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well, I'm off."

"So soon," Sengoku muttered. "You just got here and now you're leaving? Did you come here just to punch me? Stay a while." He smiled, hoping that the white-haired boy would stay - even if all he did was complain about how Yamabuki was run.

"Can't. Dan's pretty strict about stuff like. The time I stay out and stuff." Akutsu rubbed at the back of his head, looking embarrassed to be kept on such a tight leash by the likes of Dan. He then turned on the heel of his fancy boot, waving nonchalantly. "Tell Captain that Dan hopes he gets better soon. God knows what would happen if he died." He paused, looking annoyed with himself. "Tell him I said it too."

Sengoku smiled sadly, nodding as Akutsu wandered off in a seemingly random direction, away from Yamabuki for the second time. The taller boy pat his pockets again as he walked, in a futile effort to find a cigarette.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Higa will send no warning! Watch yourselves. _

_Your comrade, NE1410IS..._

* * *

Oishi trudged along, following Higa Chuu _very _reluctantly. They were almost to Hyoutei, and Oishi could see the steeple of Hyoutei's church in the distance. Behind him, the unconscious Eiji was slung over Tanishi's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. In front of him, Kite was walking proudly in front of his team, a beautiful creature of independence and grace! However, his image was ruined by the bustling boy beside him, wearing an oversized purple jacket overtop his old uniform. Fukushi Michuru was someone Oishi had never met personally, but he knew that the boy used to be the Captain of Ginka Chuu, a relatively weak team with nasty tendencies to cheat to get themselves through matches. _Just like Higa, _Oishi thought bitterly. No wonder their teams merged.

Rin sidled up beside Oishi, looking unimpressed. "That Fukushi kid is a real pain in the ass," he muttered. Oishi wondered why he was talking to him - maybe he couldn't tell anyone else, because there were Ginka members amongst them that would probably fight over the dignity of their captain. "He's constantly complaining of stomach pains. I think he's faking it for Kite's attention. What do you think?"

"Uh," was all Oishi had to say. Oishi didn't really want to talk to him - he had injured Ryuzaki before, after all. "I've never really met him before."

"Oh." Rin looked disgruntled. "Well, he's from this real shitty team. Ginka or something. I have no idea why Kite let them join us."

"Why are you talking to me?" Oishi asked.

"Cuz I can't talk about this to anyone else, and I thought now was as good a time as any…" Rin scratched at his head. "Cuz…I dunno. Kite might want us to kill you? I'm not sure. Probably not. He's been soft lately."

Oishi grew solemnly quiet, looking ahead to Kite. He was being barraged by Fukushi, who was talking animatedly to the captain. "See that jacket he's wearing?" Rin continued, despite Oishi's silence. Oishi kind of wished Rin would leave him alone. "That's the captains jacket. THE CAPTAINS. JACKET. Do you get me, Seigaku? He's wearing KITE'S JACKET."

"Huh," Oishi deadpanned.

Rin let out a garbled yell, pulling at his hair. Oishi was only slightly concerned. "That's so weird!"

"Rin." The blonde boy straightened immediately when Kite turned towards them with a chilly glare. "Stop whatever you're doing. You're being noisy. You'll attract zombies."

And he certainly had. Kite whipped back around when the sound of a groan alerted them. They had gotten very close to Hyoutei by this point, the steps to the church just within their vision, and now they were interrupted by some nooblord zombies. Shameful.

Oishi watched as the zombies approached and the entirety of Higa launched an attack unlike one Oishi had ever seen. With the exception of Chinen, Fukushi, and Tanishi, the rest of the Higa had gone in guns a'blazin, the guns in this case meaning their BUFF MUSCLES. They tore and pummeled the undead with their bare fists, some with brass knuckles, and a few with some powerful kicks. It was a bloody mess, as was the deal with most zombies, but this one was….different. Oishi hadn't seen an epic beatdown this severe for a very long time.

When the last of the zombies had been crushed to a meaty pulp by THE HANDS OF ANOTHER BOY, Oishi felt faint. Fukushi rushed past Oishi as he staggered backwards and hooked around Kite's arm, praising him for his epic zombie beatdown techniques. Kite told him to stop, but was smiling slightly despite it. Rin strode back to Oishi, one side of his blonde hair matted by zombie blood and a deep cut weeping on his arm, with his teeth bared and expression angry. "They're so gross," he muttered as he brushed past Oishi, who was still stunned at the display, and walked up to the mostly silent Chinen, leaving Oishi to himself.

* * *

Seigaku heard the epic beatdown.

"Whoa," Momo breathed. They couldn't figure out where the noises of battle had come from, but they all knew who it had been - the quiet of punches instead of the loud thunking of tennis balls had been all they needed to know that Higa Chuu was nearby. Also, that there were many zombies nearby.

The team turned to Tezuka, who appeared startled by the knowledge that Higa was nearby. Inui clapped him on the back, snapping him out of his crazed state. "Tezuka," he said carefully, shaking his head. Tezuka nodded, brow furrowing, and they continued, though more careful this time, towards Hyoutei's church.

They were basically already there, and had to scale the large staircase up to the building. The stairs were grand, indeed, a whitish marble that glowed in the sunlight. Ryouma, bored of this and wanting to get out of Hyoutei as quickly as they could, took the stairs two at a time despite the protests of his captain. He should have listened.

Hyoutei was a smart team. They had set up automatic tennis-ball shooters at the top level of the stairs. Two of the EIGHTY TENNIS BALL SHOOTERS shot at Ryouma relentlessly, throwing him down the stairs from the force that they had been fired at. He was lucky that he was sturdier than a squishy zombie, because if he hadn't been, he would have probably exploded! He was also lucky that his team was at the bottom of the steps, prepared to catch him as he fell.

Ryouma spat angrily. "What the hell-!"

"Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well!" The team turned towards the stairs again after setting Ryouma down. Oshitari Yuushi smiled at the top of the steps, haloed by the sunlight. He still had long, flowing dark hair but he had ditched his glasses sometime after the zombies had taken over, because they were a pain to upkeep. Also he didn't need them. Seigaku still wasn't used to seeing him without them, though. Gakuto stood next to him, looking amused by the other teams presence. "If it isn't little Seigaku. I thought Higa Chuu wiped you out."

Kaidoh growled like a ferocious dog. "What did you say?! As if we'd let those scumbags destroy us!"

"Yeah!" Momo agreed. In any other case, Momo would never speak up in Kaidoh's favor, but Oshitari was just uncalled for.

Oshitari leaned against the railing, looking bored. Gakuto snickered, doing a backflip just because. Maybe he was mocking the fact that their acrobatic player was m.i.a.

"We're here to see Atobe," Tezuka said, asserting his captain-y dominance. "Not his team."

Oshitari hummed. "Bold, Tezuka. Very bold, considering you haven't wandered out of the poorly defended scrapheap you call a school in months. Gakuto, go tell Atobe who's here. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll let you get your grubby feet on our new carpets."

Gakuto skipped off into the wide open doors of the church, vanishing into the brightly lit room. Seigaku felt awkward, standing at the bottom of Hyoutei's stairs. It was true that Seigaku played a solitary game for the longest time, but they had lost two players - three, technically - so quickly. Who wouldn't want to just hide away for a little to get their bearings?

Well, most of Seigaku, actually, but waiting for their captain was probably worth it.

After what felt like fifty years of staring down the smug Oshitari at the top of the steps, Gakuto returned, looking annoyed. "They can come up," he said glumly. "Atobe wants to see them immediately."

Oshitiari frowned bitterly as Seigaku cheered and stormed up the stairs in an excited fervor. Ha, suck it Hyoutei! Look at your pristine white stairs get all muddy! Ha ha ha!


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Gee, I wish I were a man! Then I'd join the tennis team! _

_Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

Seigaku entered the church of Hyoutei. They were immediately struck with a sense of awe - it really was amazing. There was a stained glass skylight that cast the entire church-area in a cold blue color. There was another window behind the pulpit, with the image of a sun warming the front. The floors were well kept and the rug down the center was surprisingly clean. Each pew was empty, except for the front ones, where an immense collection of tennis balls was kept. Seigaku stood at the front of the church, looking confusedly around - where were they supposed to go now? Churches were too confusing.

They were quickly found by Choutarou, who came bustling out of a door they hadn't previously seen with a box in his arms. "Oh!" He gasped, surprised at the presence of the other team.

"Seigaku!"

"Where is Atobe?" Tezuka asked, getting down to business. It's not like he was friends with him or anything. No time for chitchat. "We have business with him."

Choutarou looked suspicious for a moment. "He knows you're here?"

"Yes."

"Okay!" His suspicious look disappeared immediately and was replaced with a friendly smile. He walked over to one of the pews, pushed a pile of tennis balls side, and settled the box down. Ryouma could just see what was inside - it was a set of folded sweatshirts from Hyoutei's winter uniform. Choutarou smiled brightly at them. "Follow me! I'll take you to him."

Seigaku was led through the back hallways of Hyoutei's church, which were much blander than Seigaku anticipated. It was also freezing cold back there, and Seigaku hadn't anticipated the sudden decrease in temperature. "It's cold," Kawamura murmured to no one in particular, shiverring.

"We have to keep it cold," Choutarou said vaguely, skirting around the topic. Seigaku knew that there was something hidden behind those words, but they didn't push the issue - Hyoutei could do whatever Hyoutei damn well wanted. They stopped in front of a door, and Choutarou knocked once, twice, and then a third time before opening it.

Seigaku wasn't really sure of what to expect. Inside, Atobe certainly was there, decked out in a navy blue robe with an embroidered "A" on the breast and not much else, with a wine glass in one hand and his chin in the other as he rest against the arm of the couch he was on. The sleepy Hyoutei member, Jirou, was dozing off beside Atobe on the couch, his head propped up slightly against Atobe's thigh.

The rest of the room was surprisingly bare for the elegant man. There was a vase of roses on the desk, which had a computer buzzing with electricity, a stack of papers, and a quill pen (since Atobe was Too Fancy for just a regular old pen). There were a couple of files behind the desk, with each drawer labelled neatly. It was very "business office"y, but that was to be expected of the workaholic they knew as Hyoutei's captain.

"Atobe," Choutarou said, before gesturing to Seigaku. "You have visitors." Choutarou quickly left after that, vanishing into the maze of hallways.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhnn," Atobe moaned as he stretched, uncrossing his legs elegantly (Kaidoh wanted to die - he was the only one who got a view of what Atobe was wearing under his robe [it was nothing]). He set his glass down on his desk before strutting over and clasping Tezuka's hand in his own, smirking devilishly at him. "Tezuka. It's been too long."

"Not long enough," Tezuka said coldly. Atobe snickered, releasing Tezuka's hand and backtracking to his desk. He plucked his glass up and perched on the desktop, eyeing up each Seigaku member. On the couch behind him, Jirou mumbled something in his sleep.

"So what can I help you with, Seigaku?" Atobe asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He narrowed his eyes. "Last I heard, you had receded into your school. Don't tell me - you came to visit me first after disappearing for so long? I'm _honored_, honestly."

The whole of Seigaku could tell that Tezuka wasn't enjoying this. It's not like they were either - Atobe was very hard to get used to. "I know that you have extensive information about what happens to each team."

Atobe looked asmued. "Are you telling me that I've out-data'd your data-man?" He chuckled, setting his now empty glass down. He got off of the desk and walked around it, instead sitting in the desk chair in front of his computer. "Yes, you're not wrong. I do keep extensive collections of what my team hears and sees out there." He peered at Tezuka over his shoulder. "It helps to have a large tennis team, doesn't it?"

Tezuka bristled, but kept his cool. Seigaku was thankful that they had such a levelheaded captain. "I suppose-"

"You wouldn't know," Atobe interrupted, already turned back to his computer. "Before we go on, can I ask for your team to wait outside? I wouldn't want any of…ah…your _team _to spread this valuable information around."

Seigaku was about to protest, but knew better once Tezuka turned and nodded at them. They filed out, reluctantly, to wait in the hallway.

"Now that they're gone," Atobe said, the teasing tone of his voice gone. He reached over to the other side of his desk and slid on a pair of glasses. "We can finally actually speak. Tezuka, why are you here?"

"Shouldn't your teammate leave as well?" Tezuka asked, staring at Jirou, who was still sleeping soundly on the couch.

Atobe followed his gaze and frowned. "He's fine."

"I'm here about Fuji," Tezuka said, wringing his hands together. "He's not dead. He's probably with Higa Chuu, but I need to know…where exactly he is."

Atobe scowled and turned to his computer, scrolling through several files. As he did, he spoke lightly. "How is your arm?"

"It's been better."

He sighed. "Didn't you get it fixed? _Can't _you get if fixed again?"

"It's not something I can just fix, Atobe. Especially not in these conditions."

Atobe shrugged, looking absently at the computer screen, and Tezuka sighed irritably. They sat in silence, barring the soft murmurs coming from Jirou's sleeping form.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Seigaku was awkwardly filling the narrow hallway. They couldn't hear the captains inside at all, so they were stuck entertaining each other.

"Inui-senpai," Kaidoh muttered, feeling as if though he had to be quiet because it was a church. He didn't want to go to hell or anything. "Is it true that Atobe has more data than you?"

Inui didn't respond at first, looking blankly at the wall across from him. "Ah, perhaps. I'd say he has more data, quantitatively, but I have more qualitatively. Does that makes sense, Kaidoh?"

The boy nodded, turning away. Just as he did, Shishido came barreling down the hallway, dressed in a white lab coat and a set of laboratory goggles, slamming into Kawamura. He jarred backwards, looking confused as well as infuriated. His eyes flickered down to their uniforms before he looked back up, a snarl on his face.

"Seigaku?!"

"Hello," Kawamura said sheepishly.

"What the hell is Seigaku doing here," Shishido muttered, eyes darting to Atobe's door.

"He knows we're here," Inui said. Shishido didn't really look as if though he believed him. "Tezuka is in there right now."

Shishido glared at each of the members, straight in the eye, and Ryouma was really the only one to challenge him back. "Maybe you should watch where you're going," he said.

The Hyoutei member looked angrily at him. "You shouldn't hog the entire hallway. We have _things _to do, better things than loiter around in other teams bases!"

"Like _what_," Ryouma retorted.

_That_ shut Shishido up. He looked away, before shoving through Seigaku. "Move, please," he muttered, before vanishing again.

Seigaku watched as he left. "That was weird," Momo said, scratching at his head. The rest of Seigaku nodded.

* * *

Tezuka watched as Atobe read through several files, with a speed that would impress even Inui if he had been there. Atobe had gone silent, a determined look on his face, as he tapped away at the keyboard. Tezuka was always better with pen and paper after all.

"Ah," Atobe said after a few finalizing taps of the keyboard. "I do have records of Fuji traveling with Higa Chuu."

"When?" Tezuka asked, voice urgent.

"Around the same time you made Seigaku into an isolated fortress," Atobe sighed, falling back in his chair. Over on the couch, Jirou rustled awake. Atobe looked over at the boy with a scowl. "Are you _finally_ awake?"

"Mmmhmm…" Jirou murmured sleepily, yawning. He blinked blearily at Tezuka, before startling awake. "Seigaku?"

"Good…morning," Tezuka said, nodding to him.

Jirou's face contorted into worry.

"Is something wrong? Did something bad happen?"

"No," Atobe scolded, rubbing at his forehead. "Nothing. Tezuka, I don't think Fuji is going to still be there. It's been months. They don't hold hostages for months…"

"Who?" Jirou pressed, looking frightened. He scooted towards the edge of the couch. "Who's being held hostage? What's happening, Atobe?"

Tezuka felt awkward - he has assumed everyone knew about Seigaku's plight. On the other hand, it had been an isolated incident - not many teams actually knew. He wasn't surprised that the rest of Hyoutei, barring Atobe, didn't know of the Higa problem. "Ah. Fuji is missing, Jirou. I suppose you hadn't heard…"

"Fuji!" Jirou gasped. "Oh no! But he was so fun to play with!"

"Don't worry about it," Atobe said through grit teeth, looking annoyed. Tezuka turned to him. "I think I know where he is."

* * *

Seigaku had fully engaged their sneaking mode. They thought something suspicious was going on in Hyoutei when Taki, a member of Hyoutei that they barely knew, rushed past in a similar lab coat to the one Shishido was wearing, and looked frenzied by their presence.

"They must be up to something," Momo had whispered.

"Yes, my data says they are most likely hiding something. Something big," Inui agreed, pushing his glasses up his nose as he flipped through his notebook.

"Let's investigate," Ryouma said.

"I don't know, guys…" Kawamura muttered.

He was outvoted though. And now Seigaku was creeping around Hyoutei's hallways, following slight sounds of voices in the distance.

"Follow the pipes," Ryouma explained, pointing up at the ceiling. "That always works in movies."  
They followed the pipes for a few minutes, and indeed, the voices and sounds of steam grew louder. "Told you," Ryouma said. The hallways grew wider as they continued, and each room had windows to peer inside. They all appeared to be…

"Examination rooms?" Inui muttered, scribbling some notes into his notebook. "Hm. Could Hyoutei have a hospital attached to their main base through basement tunnels? This is good data."

"I don't think this is a hospital," Ryouma muttered. The pillar of Seigaku was entirely right - it seemed more like a freaky evil scientist lab than a hospital.

They all jumped when a loud noise came from down the hallway, and then the sound of a panicked voice speaking loudly. They quickened their pace - they weren't just going to let someone be hurt or in danger, after all - and advanced down the hallway.

Seigaku happened upon Hyoutei's big secret laboratory with a feeling of shock. They stood agape in the main doorway as they looked around. It was a tall room with several large computers, glass tubes, and operating tables - there was also a cart of vials containing liquids of varying shades and hues.

"What the…" Kaidoh grunted.

Seigaku carefully entered the laboratory, gazing around at all the various technologies Hyoutei had amassed in their basement. The entire room was painted white, and smelt violently clean. It made their noses sting, it was so clean.

Inui ooh'd and aah'd as he jumped from computer to computer, marking down the build and the OS's of each. "It's amazing that Hyoutei can harness enough energy to have these things!" He exclaimed.

"Of course they would," Ryouma spat, kneeling down to look through the tiny vials on the bottom shelf of the cart. "They're rich."

"It must be nice," Momo sighed, leaning against the wall. As he did, his back pressed a button that they hadn't noticed before. He stumbled away as the wall beside him began to recede away, revealing an extension to the white lab.

Or, it had been white. There were dark red splatters on the floors and walls, and a deep green cot in the center, surrounded by rows and rows of seats that went up for ages. It was like a small-sized stadium with a bloody mess in the center.

Atop the bed was a boy, strapped to it by his wrists, ankles, and around his waist. It was horrifying - most of his chest had been opened and many of his organs were gone - presumably surgically removed. Inui and Ryouma were the only ones to advance - data and curiosity being their motivations - and they were shocked at what they found.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?!"

The two shocked Seigaku members looked numbly up the stairs of the stadium, where Hiyoshi Wakashi stood in similar attire to what Shishido and Taki had been wearing - a white lab coat, protective goggles and plastic gloves. He also had a face mask on, which muffled his speech slightly. He hurried down the stairs, rummaging in his pocket and removing two face masks. He brought them up and over each boy's head and snapped the rubber strap against the back of their heads, which shook them back to reality. "You could get infected, you fucking idiots!"

"What…" Ryouma was still staring at the body, flabbergasted. "What are you guys doing?"

"You shouldn't be down here," Hiyoshi hissed.

"Aaaaahn, let them explore. You can't catch anything from one that's already dead," came a voice from the heavens. Okay, it wasn't really from the heavens. It was from the top of the stairs Hiyoshi had come from. Atobe stood at the top with Tezuka behind him. As he stepped down the stairs, he slipped a face mask on. Tezuka looked mildly disgusted, but did the same - Atobe must have given him a mask. "You are the first proper team to see what we've been doing - it's exciting, isn't it? A cure to zombification."

Seigaku, as a whole, was still shocked over not _what _was on the table, but _who _was on the table. It was tiny Shitenhouji player Kintarou Tooyama. What the heck?! "But, that's not a zombie, that's Kintarou-" Ryouma began, but was interrupted by Atobe.

"Is that his name?" Ryouma shook with anger. "Shitenhouji was completely done for. We took them in just as they were about to go under, you see," Atobe explained, looking way too smug about all of this. "The only members who didn't become zombies allowed us to do this as well. It's not like we did this without their consent." He stared down at Kintarou with a look of pure professionalism - he really felt no connection to the boy on the table. "We'll use them to find a cure and cause of zombism." He turned back to Seigaku with a smug smile. "We'll be the first."

"Shitenhouji..." Momo murmured sadly. Yes, indeed, Shitenhouji had become zombies almost immediately, as they had not taken the plague seriously. Only two members were able to escape the disease, as they had not been around Shitenhouji when it had hit, and they had quickly asked Rikkai for help in an act of panic. Rikkai refused, so the remaining members turned to Hyoutei, who gladly accepted the zombie members into their team. As test subjects, that is.

"And that's it," Atobe finished. He shrugged, before waving Hiyoshi off to take Kintarou out. "We're trying to find a way to either reverse the effects or stop them completely. We're about halfway there." He crossed his arms and looked over at Tezuka slyly. "Perhaps we could make a bargain, Tezuka."

Tezuka scowled. Like his team, he wasn't too happy about this arrangement either. Shitenhouji had never been close to Seigaku, but it was tough to hear that they had become zombies so quickly and were now being operated on by the likes of Hyoutei, but what could he do? "What?"

"I hear you have a zombified member," He said. Seigaku felt a bit of shame hearing that - it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it hurt to hear. "In exchange for knowing where Fuji is, you allow me to test our anti-zombificiation medication on him." He paused, expression turning serious. "I also want to look at your arm." He smirked, the smug twinkle back in his eye. "Don't worry. I'm an _excellent _doctor."

It was a tough bargain, but Tezuka reluctantly agreed. Seigaku couldn't argue with him, as much as they hated the deal. Atobe really was the only person to know where Fuji could be, other than the rest of Higa, and it wasn't like Seigaku was gonna go ask them. Atobe almost jumped for joy at the deal. "Thank you, Tezuka. I knew you'd agree." He reached into his back pocket (he had changed into something other than his robe at one point) and removed a small folded piece of paper. He unfolded it gracefully and handed it to Tezuka. On it was a printed picture of a large ship with a flowing sail and offensive weapons like cannons lining the edges like a brick wall.

"That's the SS Higa," Atobe explained. The rest of Seigaku huddled around their captain to get a good look. Tezuka glanced at Atobe, who smirked smugly at his grand knowledge of all things Higa. "That's where Fuji is."


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Hello, friends. I hope you are not put off by my recent hiatus. Do not put much thought into it - you could get a headache. And** they** need you in top shape._

_Your comrade, NE1410is_

* * *

Yukimura's eyes fluttered open.

He and Sanada had been staying with Rokkaku for a while now. They had been moved into an uninhabited, one roomed shack that only had one bed, which led to some one sided arguments as to who would get the bed - "Yukimura, you take the bed. You need it more" "I agree" - and the Rokkaku regulars would burst into their "house" at random times throughout the day. And sometimes at night.

Beside him, Sanada was sitting meditatively, his face serene. After the plague began, Sanada had taken up meditating to handle his stress. How he was able to do it in a place like this was Yukimura's guess.

"Good morning," Yukimura said, voice dreamy.

Sanada startled, returning to reality. "Yukimura! You're awake!"

Yukimura stretched, rolling on to his side and peering up at Sanada through his hair. Sanada was staring intently at him, obviously wanting to ask how the other boy was feeling, but stopping himself. He knew that Yukimura hated being constantly pestered. Yukimura smiled sweetly, which made Sanada turn so freakin' red!

Sanada stammered before clearing his throat. "Rokkaku invited us to eat brunch with them."

"They're very hospitable."

"A little _too _hospitable," Sanada muttered. He peered out of their fern-curtained window. From their hut, they could see the courts of the sport that Rokkaku had grown so fond of - volleyball. He didn't get it. What was so fun about hitting a ball over a net repeatedly? Without a RACKET? It just didn't make sense.

Yukimura shot the back of Sanada's head a _look. _"Are you implying that they're keeping us here for a reason?"

"It's a dog eat dog world out there, Yukimura."

Sighing, Rikkai's captain slipped out of bed and picked up his shirt. He slipped it on, shaking out his hair afterwards. "Well, we can't let them wait for us. We have an image to uphold, Sanada."

Sanada cast a sidelong look at his captain as the boy gently rest his Rikkai uniform jacket atop his shoulders. "Yes, you're right."

* * *

Sanada and Yukimura were fashionably late. Sanada was appalled by their tardiness, but Yukimura remained chill as ever, smiling sweetly to Saeki as the Rokkaku member led the Rikkai members down a small footpath through the trees.

Sanada was suspicious - where the heck did Rokkaku eat, exactly? In the middle of the woods? Sanada had usually insisted that they eat in their hut, which was fine to Rokkaku. Anything for their incredibly special guests.

The trio broke through the trees, revealing a long table in a small clearing. It was surrounded by Rokkaku's team and many people that Sanada didn't recognize in floral print shirts and cargo shorts.

The table was covered in foods and dishes that neither Rikkai member had never seen before. _Island food_, Sanada thought bitterly. _Probably unhealthy._

"Yukimura-san!" Aoi exclaimed from the head of the table. He was almost indistinguishable in his red printed flower shirt from the arrangements of flowers on the table. He waved excitedly as Yukimura and Sanada walked over to him. Yukimura reached out and caressed one of the flowers on the table with a warm expression.

"Such beautiful flowers," Yukimura murmured. His eyes glittered when he looked at Aoi. "You are very lucky."

Sanada looked around anxiously. He had forgotten that, ever since the outbreak, Yukimura hadn't been able to continue his gardening hobby easily. He had also forgotten how much of an affect Yukimura had on others. Almost everyone at the table was staring at Rikkai's captain with bright, admiring eyes. Sanada scowled.

Aoi blushed so freakin' red. He nodded, taking a seat. "Yes, we are! Please, sit. We saved your seats - right next to me!"

"Aren't we lucky," Sanada grumbled, pulling out the chair for Yukimura before taking his own seat across the table.

He watched as Yukimura leaned forward with his elbow edging against the table, keeping his manners in mind while also being casual. He smiled at Aoi. "We'd like to thank you for inviting us to eat with you."

"Well, we've been wanting to for a while," Aoi chuckled, looking pleased. "But, well…"

"Your vice-captain is a little…stubborn," Saeki said carefully. He had taken the seat beside Sanada.

Sanada scowled. "I'm right here."

Yukimura chuckled brightly. "Oh, he's always like that. If he ever gives you a hard time just talk to me!"

Sanada scowled harder. If he scowled any harder, his face would curl into itself. Not a pretty sight! "I'm still right here."

At the other end of the table, an old man stood up and tapped a tiny, very tiny fork against his glass. It was Rokkaku's coach, Oji, looking frail and old like he had always looked. He looked jollier than either Rikkai member remembered, but maybe that's because they never really saw him before. It wasn't like Rokkaku and Rikkai ever played against each other. "I'd like to toast," he said in his weak old man voice, "to the Rikkai members who blessed us with their presence over the past few weeks. It really has been an honor having such renowned boys amongst us. Maybe we could play tennis together soon. I hear your courts are fantastic…"

Sanada leaned across the table to Yukimura. "Does he know that there's been a zombie epidemic?"

Yukimura glared at him and smacked the top of his head. "Don't be rude."

Then Aoi took control of the conversation again, looking around happily at his team as he spoke. Sanada sat stubbornly, slapping foods out of Yukimura's hands occasionally and taking a bite out of whatever it was before returning it to his captain. He was only half listening to the conversation, but he had heard that Aoi had given up on his conquest for pretty girls, which shocked him. He hadn't really interacted with Rokkaku's captain before, but he had heard through many reliable sources that Aoi was, well, _girl-crazy._

"You've given up?" Yukimura asked. Apparently the captain was being actively involved in the conversation. He cut a dainty slice from the wedge of fruit he had been given. "Dumped too many times?"

Aoi laughed cheerily and waved away the accusation. "No, no, nothing like that!"

"He's had his heart stolen," Saeki teased, leaning over Sanada's plate, rather rudely, if Sanada had any say in it. Saeki thankfully moved back, however, so Sanada chillaxed.

Aoi blushed so red he matched Rokkaku's usual uniform - which was really red! "S-Saeki…"

"Ooh." Yukimura lay his fork down on his plate and folded his hands together under his chin. He grinned at Aoi. "Is it anyone I would know?"

Aoi looked absolutely embarrassed. Bane groaned from where he sat at the table. "He won't tell us who it is! She must be a real looker if he wants to keep her away from us!"

Sanada had had just about enough of all this GOSSIP. "It isn't any of your business who your captain is dating!" He said loudly. The rest of Rokkaku reeled back in surprise at Sanada's outburst.

Aoi nodded, huffing. "Yeah! It's none of your business!"

The tension Sanada had garnered up with his anger eased away quickly as Rokkaku laughed at their captain and the conversation drifted away from Aoi's affair to something about how they should all go play some volleyball. Sanada was relieved.


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: A wonderful opportunity arises: join your tennis team while you have the chance._

_Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

Seigaku set out from Hyoutei with a new destination in mind - the Rokkaku shores. That's where Higa Chuu kept their boats. And that's where FUji was. On the boat. The _Higa Boat._

Atobe waved at them with a handkerchief in hand and a tear in his eye as they left. Tezuka didn't even wave goodbye. What a jerk.

Ryouma was skeptical. He didn't really have any trust in the Monkey King of Hyoutei, so he wasn't really going for this whole "Fuji is on the Higa Boats!" bullshit.

He pulled at Tezuka's sleeve. The captain didn't turn to him, as he was determined and not easily swayed by Ryouma's small hands, but Ryouma spoke anyway, knowing that Tezuka would listen. "You don't actually believe Atobe do you?"

"We don't have much of a choice but to believe him," Kawamura said, overhearing Ryouma's question. He fidgeted with the sleeves of his jacket. "I mean, this is the best we've got, Echizen."

"Yeah, but he's a liar, like, 90% of the time," Ryouma muttered.

Tezuka looked briefly over his shoulder at his kouhai. "Are you afraid of Higa Chuu's boats, Echizen?"

Ryouma scoffed loudly. "Of course not! I just don't trust Atobe."

Tezuka sighed. He understood Ryouma almost too well. Atobe wasn't entirely trustworthy, and it wasn't very likely that Atobe and the rest of Hyoutei were the _only _possible people to know where Fuji had gone. Actually, it was more possible that _Eiji _knew where he went, but it wasn't like Eiji was easy to get a hold of. Also he was a zombie so there was the threat of him being infectious. It was all just a mess.

The captain sighed again. "I agree. But this is the only lead we have, Echizen, and I have to go with it. I'm sorry if you don't like it but…we need your help to fight against Higa if it's necessary."

Ryouma snorted. "Of course you need my help. I'm the PRINCE of TENNIS."

Indeed he was. The rest of the team rolled their eyes in sync with one another. That was their pillar for ya.

* * *

Speaking of Higa, they had arrived at Hyoutei after another batch of zombies had ambushed them. They were attracting the zombies away from Seigaku as they left Hyoutei, which was handy.

Oishi was wondering where the heck all of these zombies were coming from. It wasn't like Hyoutei had set up base in a particularly large city. Actually, as Oishi thought about it, the zombies Higa Chuu were pummeling with their fists were probably lower tier schools who had attempted to get to Hyoutei for shelter. It was kind of sad, if you thought about it. But it wasn't like he had much time to think about it - his mind was too focused on all the freakin' blood and guts flying around him.

Rin, the only one who had been speaking to Oishi, twisted a zombies head with a sickening snap before dropping the zombie to the floor. He turned to Oishi afterwards. "It's brutal, right?"

"I guess," Oishi said in a high pitched tone. He didn't want to piss him off or else that'd be HIS neck getting twisted!

Rin pushed his hair back with a flick of the wrist. His eyes drew over to Kite and Fukushi momentarily before quickly returning to Oishi. "It's brutal."

"Okay," Oishi agreed. Rin nodded, satisfied with Oishi's agreement. "I don't really like all the…guts and stuff," he said. Oishi still didn't get why Rin was talking to him, but he couldn't help but agree. I mean, who LIKES guts and blood? Oishi sure didn't, and he lived with a zombie that feasted on it! He had hunted a fair amount of animals for the boy to eat, but never humans. That was probably why the other boy had a sliver of humanity left.

The mob that was Higa Chuu turned the corner and was finally in plain view of Church of Hyoutei. The leader, Atobe, was standing at the top of the stairs, leaning against a railing and speaking to Oshitari Yuushi. Oishi squinted to get a better look. He wasn't wearing his glasses! And Atobe was wearing glasses instead! This was quite the revelation.

Higa Chuu stomped up the stairs with Kite at the lead. They ignored the tennis balls pelting into their torsos because they were rock hard muscle all over, so they had no affect on them. Oishi on the other hand was getting the brunt of the damage, grunting with pain whenever a ball managed to catch his arm or FACE. He looked worriedly over at Eiji, who was safely out of the range of the tennis balls flying around.

Oshitari gaped at them and Atobe spun around quickly. His surprised expression was replaced by a smirk as Kite walked towards him, Fukushi following like a puppy after him. "Aaaaahn~ If it isn't Higa Chuu~!"

"Don't give me that shit," Kite spat. He wasn't gonna take Atobe's bullshit smugness. Atobe's smirk fell. He thundered forward, grasping Atobe by the collar of his shirt. Oshitari floundered for a few seconds before sprinting off, probably to get help. Atobe didn't flinch though, and narrowed his eyes at Kite. "We have a delivery for you."

Atobe's eyes flickered down Kite's face and then wandered back up. He then looked past Kite's face and scowled at the sight of a disheveled Oishi and the unconscious Eiji slung over Tanishi's shoulder. "Oh?"

Fukushi rushed forward in an embarrassing display and oohed and aahed over Atobe. "Wow! You're the real Atobe Keigo! You're awesome!" Kite glared down at him and released Atobe's shirt so he could slug Fukushi across the face. "Ow, Eishirou-"

"Eishirou!" Atobe snorted. Kite spun to glare at him, and then back at Fukushi, and then back. There was a lot for Kite to glare at, and he just couldn't pick what to glare at. Atobe wiped a gleeful tear from his eye. "You didn't tell me you had a _girlfriend_, Kite-_chan_. He's even wearing your _jacket _- how cute."

Kite blushed so freakin' hard his whole head turned red! Just kidding, Kite didn't blush, but he sure felt embarrassed. "I don't."

Fukushi looked confusedly at them before realizing what Atobe was implying. He ACTUALLY blushed so hard that his whole freakin' head turned red, stumbling backwards and stammering uselessly. "G-G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-girlfriend?! N-no!"

Oishi wanted to die from secondhand embarrassment. He hid his face in his hands - all he wanted was to come to Hyoutei! Not watch this soap opera!

"What about you?" Kite retorted, rather childishly, tbh. "What about that sleepy kid? I heard that you and him have been…_close_."

Oishi REALLY wanted to die now! He moaned in pain silently into his palms. SO EMBARRASSING! The rest of Higa shared this sentiment, as they were bashfully looking down at their feet or turning away completely.

Luckily, it was broken up quickly by the introduction of the huge hulk of a Hyoutei member that they called Kabaji. Oshitari skulked behind him, glaring daggers at Higa Chuu. He had obviously gotten Kabaji so that he could fight Higa off. Atobe spun around with a bright smile. "Aaaaahn~ Kabajiiiii~" He strut over, latching himself to the bigger boy's arm. Kabaji deadpanned, completely unaffected by Atobe's wiles. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"We're leaving," Kite said snippily, snaking a threatening arm around Fukushi's shoulders. Atobe's eyes flickered down at the action and he smirked devilishly. It made Kite LIVID, but he knew better than to stick around and get beaten by Hyoutei. Where Higa was a strong team, if not the strongest, Hyoutei was the biggest and the most influential. Higa had better things to do than try to antagonize Hyoutei.

Also, Kite and Atobe shared a past of karaoke singing with each other. Though neither would admit to doing that. They were drunk, honestly. Who would sing Ain't No Mountain High Enough with a rival when sober? Nobody. Especially not Kite. Kite definitely didn't enjoy singing passionately with the obnoxious Hyoutei captain.

Anyway.

Kite spun himself and Fukushi around before stalking back down the stairs. He glared at Oishi as he passed, which totally threw Oishi off. What had the round-headed boy done to piss off Kite so bad? Nothing, that's what. Tanishi slid Eiji off of his shoulder and lay him on the stairs before leaving with the rest of Higa. Atobe stepped forward towards Oishi as he watched them leave so quickly, it was like they had never been there. That was made Higa so effective as a team - you couldn't track their movements easily.

"Oishi from Seigaku," Atobe murmured. Oishi spun around, bowing politely at Hyoutei's captain. Atobe smirked smugly, his eyes flickering towards Eiji, who lay limply on the stairs. "Tezuka was quick to reward me, hmmm~"

Oishi was confused. "What do you mean?"

Now Atobe was confused, but he wasn't gonna let Oishi knew that. He crossed his arms and looked at Oishi sassily, like the boy was an idiot. "Didn't Tezuka tell you? I told you all where Fuji was, so I get Eiji to run tests on…I would have thought they would tell you."

"I haven't seen Tezuka in weeks," Oishi said. His voice was low and quiet. Atobe knew that Oishi had left Seigaku, but he didn't know it had been _that _severe. However, Oishi did not seem deterred by Atobe's mention of running tests on Eiji, which pleased Atobe. "So I don't know why he agreed to that, but it doesn't matter." The egghead looked stubbornly determined about something. "I came here for that reason, anyway."

Atobe's eyebrows raised in interest. "Oh?"

"I want you to save Eiji." Oishi nodded, looking over his shoulder at his poor partially zombified friend. "I want you to cure his zombism."


	21. Chapter 21

Rikkai was getting mighty fed up with Yamabuki. Sure, they were nice people, but ever since Akutsu had shown up, they were moping around all the time and looking just plain _depressed._

"This sucks," Kirihara pouted, curling up on his side on one of the sleeping bags Yamabuki had gladly donated to Rikkai. "I wanna go home."

"We can't," Marui said bitterly. He chomped on his bubblegum like it owed him money. (I don't know what this means.) He blew a bubble as big as his head before continuing. "Higa Chuu destroyed it."

Kirihara sniffed sadly. Yanagi reached over and ruffled the boy's head affectionately.

Niou and Yagyuu sat at the opening of the tent, peeking out. It had begun to rain, which was never good. The sound of rain could easily mask the sound of zombies, especially when it was raining like this.

"I wonder when it'll stop," Yagyuu muttered. A couple of drops got onto his glasses, so he took them off to wipe them clean.

"When it stops, we should go back to St. Rudolph," Jackal said. The boy had finally returned to the team after tending Minami's wound for a while. The rest of the team nodded in agreement - they had had just enough of Yamabuki's weird camp setup. It was dangerous to be out in the open, and Rikkai was still used to being in the safe confines of their hospital.

Niou turned around, looking at Jackal with a mischievous smile. "Did you get any cool dirt on Yamabuki?"

"Got any gossip?" Marui assisted, sidling up against his doubles partner. "C'mon, tell us!"

Jackal swatted the redhead away. "No, I didn't. They were all too worried about Minami to _gossip, _you idiots."

"And now they're all too worried about Akutsu," Yagyuu murmured. Rikkai quieted down a little after that. Yes, Akutsu's appearance really had shaken Yamabuki, who was already shaken up enough.

"Why did Akutsu leave?" Kirihara asked, looking up through his bangs at Yanagi. The data-man shrugged. "He came back because he cared about their captain, right?"

Yanagi nodded, looking troubled. "If my data is right, he's probably not worried. I think he's staying with that freshman manager of theirs - Dan Taichi, I think. He's probably the one who cares."

"That little shrimp?" Marui scoffed. "With the green headband?"

"Yukimura-san wears it better," Kirihara muttered. The rest of the team agreed wholeheartedly.

Yanagi nodded. "That makes more sense than Akutsu suddenly caring about his team, though."

"Maybe he had a…you know, a change of heart," Niou spat out the last part, looking amused. "Probably not, just kidding."

Rikkai settled back into silence. Yanagi sighed, reaching out to ruffle Kirihara's hair again - it was soothing to do so, and he was pretty stressed. Though he was worried for Yukimura and Sanada, he found himself becoming more worried for Yamabuki. The poor team had been through more than any of the other teams, including theirs. They had managed to survive despite losing their strongest member, their school being overrun with zombies, nearly losing their captain, and living outside for extended amounts of time with the threat of zombies always present. It was amazing that they had survived, and Yanagi respected it.

"Senpai…" Kirihara murmured, looking drowsily up at Yanagi. "You're gonna put me to sleep if you keep doing that…"

Yanagi smiled, flipping through his notebook with his spare hand. _Rubbing Akaya's hair makes him sleepy. Important data._

* * *

Yukimura flopped back onto the bed of he and Sanada's hut with a dramatic sigh. After that brunch (where Sanada irritatingly tried each food before Yukimura did to make sure there was no poison in them) and an intense game of beach volleyball (where Sanada would step in every few minutes to make sure Yukimura wasn't overexerting himself) Yukimura was tuckered out. It had begun to drizzle out, and Yukimura was thankful to have a roof over his head. Okay, it wasn't perfect - there was a leak in the roof above where Sanada normally kept his makeshift bed, and there was a small puddle forming on his pillow. But, hey, not everything could be perfect.

Sanada slunk miserably to the floor. "My pillow," he said weakly.

Yukimura rolled over to look at Sanada. It was kind of funny to see the other boy so sad over a pillow. "You can share with me tonight," he said, patting the spot beside him. "The bed is big enough."

Sanada stared at Yukimura for a long time, his face getting incrementally redder as time passed. After what felt like AGES, Sanada finally managed to splutter and stammer out a response, which could be translated to "no".

Yukimura giggled at his friend's response, hiding his face in the pillow for a few moments. When he looked back at Sanada, the boy had his hands fisted up against his thighs and he was looking down ashamedly. Yukimura laughed again before sliding off of the bed halfway and wrapping a hand around one of Sanada's wrists. Sanada made a strangled noise and tensed beneath Yukimura's dainty touch.

"C'mon," Yukimura said, pulling Sanada over gently. Sanada couldn't refuse - Yukimura was his captain after all - so he fell forward easily, allowing Yukimura's hands guide him forward. "You can't sleep on a wet pillow - you'll get neck cramps."

Sanada made an incomprehensible noise, nodding jerkily. He became calmer as Yukimura seemed to ignore him, his eyes trained up at the ceiling. Sanada liked how Yukimura was so hard to read at times - it made the other boy seem mysterious, despite having known him for so long. When Yukimura returned his gaze to Sanada, Sanada jumped, but not ridiculously like he had before.

"Those were really beautiful flowers," Yukimura said. His fingers were still around Sanada's wrist, and the vice-captain was all too aware of this fact. "It made me miss my garden."

It hurt Sanada to see Yukimura so nostalgic over something that he might never see again. "Your garden was better," Sanada said. It was the truth. Yukimura's garden had been really impressive - though Sanada never said that before. That was way too girly.  
Yukimura smiled brightly at Sanada. But then the smile faded, and Yukimura looked up at the ceiling again. "I'll never see that garden again, will I?"

"You can grow another," Sanada said quickly, alarmed. He didn't like seeing his captain give up on things so fast. It was unlike him. "And make it even better!"

"Maybe if we could leave Japan," Yukimura said. It struck Sanada that it was possible that they may never leave Japan - it wasn't like the rest of the world was rushing to get to Japan to save the survivors. It wasn't that they hadn't tried - it was just too out of hand. Sanada broke out of Yukimura's grasp and swallowed nervously before wrapping his hand around Yukimura's. Yukimura quickly brushed his free hand across the tear line of either of his eyes. It broke Sanada's heart to see his captain so emotional over things like gardens. He was so…

_so freakin' cute, _Sanada thought. Then he shook his head. No. That's some yaoi bullshit. "We'll leave Japan, I promise, and you'll grow the best garden out of any garden in the world. Even better than the…the Versailles Garden? That's impressive, right? Well, your's'll be better, and…"

Sanada trailed off as Yukimura sat up, smiling warmly at him. "If I made a new garden," the boy murmured quietly, threading his fingers through Sanada's. "Would you help me take care of it?"

Sanada's mouth opened and closed uselessly. He realized their position, and their hands touching, and…oh god. "Of course I'd help you!" Sanada said, maybe a little too loudly. "I'd help you no matter what! You're our captain!"

"Is that all I am?" Yukimura asked. It wasn't really a question or anything - he said it with a confidence that said he already knew what the answer was.

"Nn…Yukimura" Yukimura's fingers squeezed around his, and he stalled. He leaned forward, and Yukimura's lips parted slightly. Whoa. Whoa. **WHOA**. Sanada felt his heart stop in his chest as the captain's eyes fluttered closed as they grew nearer. His eyelashes were SO FREAKIN' LONG and Sanada was unsure whether to close his eyes too or not because this couldn't _possibly _be happening - and then a drop of water splashed against his ear, and he startled, jolting forward and crashing his and Yukimura's heads together, which was totally unromantic and actually a little painful. "Agh-!"

"Oh, Sanada," Yukimura cooed teasingly, smirking at his flailing, embarrassed vice-captain and rubbing at his forehead, because yeah, it _was_ painful. "So forward~!"

Before Sanada could protest and go DIE FROM EMBARRASSMENT (similarly to how Oishi nearly died from embarrassment before) they heard a shuffling outside and a very human (as opposed to zombie) shout of "ow!" Sanada spun away from Yukimura, partly because he was scared of the noise outside and partly because he was scared that, if that water drop hadn't interrupted, he might have almost KISSED YUKIMURA WTF. Too real. He crept over to the window and peered into the oncoming evening darkness, wondering what the heck was going on. It probably wasn't a zombie, because Rokkaku had a ridiculous protection system that made it so no zombies could ever get in, also zombies didn't like getting sand all over and in their clothes. That was one remaining trait they kept from being human.

So that meant it was probably a person out there, stumbling around in the bushes. It was kind of an unspoken rule at Rokkaku that you didn't travel around much at night - one, the sand was loose and you could trip easily, two, it made you look suspicious if you wandered around too much, and three, it was dark out, and the dark was scary.

They were pretty straightforward rules - even Sanada and Yukimura had picked them up from their short stay with the team. They had even seen someone, someone who wasn't a part of the regulars, get kicked out for wandering around too much at night. Suspicious behavior was taken seriously in Rokkaku!

Yukimura came up from behind Sanada, peering over the boy's shoulder. "What is it?"  
"There's someone out there."

"Really?" Yukimura's body was pressed up against Sanada's back, much to Sanada's dismay. "Isn't that against their rules?"

"Yeah," Sanada said, narrowing his eyes. He could see a vague shape of someone stalking through the bushes that dotted the living area of Rokkaku beach - or maybe it wasn't a person at all, and he was crazy, which was totally a possibility. He almost just KISSED YUKIMURA after all. What the _heck._

Yukimura hummed, and Sanada swore he could feel the vibration of the hum against his ear. It was terrible. "We should investigate."

"Yukimura-"

"C'mon," Yukimura said, nudging Sanada's back. "We have to. For the good of Rokkaku."

Sanada never knew Yukimura was so playful. Well, he did, but he usually ignored it, because he wasn't a very playful person. Niou usually was the one to amuse Yukimura, not him. "Uhhhh," Sanada stalled, scratching at the back of his head. "Uhhhhhhhh."

"Pleeeaasseeeee," Yukimura begged, pressing further against Sanada's back.  
Sanada shot up and away from Yukimura. With a shaky voice, he agreed, "Fine! Fine. Let's go investigate."

Yukimura smiled pleasantly at Sanada. Bastard.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: The just deserve victory. The unjust deserve loss. _

_Your comrade, NE1410IS_

* * *

Sanada, opposed to popular belief, could not see in the dark. That's why as he and Yukimura crept after the suspicious character, he face planted way too often for his liking.

After getting a mouthful of sand for the fifth time, Sanada had just about had it. "Yukimura, let's go back. This is ridiculous."

But Yukimura was stubborn. "Sanada, we have to get to the bottom of this."

"Since when do you care about Rokkaku's affairs so much?" Sanada said.

"Since our team isn't here," Yukimura said quickly. Sanada shut up after that.

The person they had been following was erratic and their footsteps were uncertain, like they were as confused by the sandy death trap of the beach as Sanada was. When they finally broke from the beach, Sanada thanked the lord, and then tripped over the root of a tree instead.

"When the hell will this person make up their mind," Sanada grumbled. He had had just about enough of this.

"Look!" Yukimura whispered.

They had arrived upon a clearing of the forest that protected the beach. It was similar to the one that they had eaten brunch in, but smaller. The person they had been following sat towards the edge, almost blending in with the shadows. When they leaned forward, Sanada and Yukimura could make out their face in the reddish light of evening, despite the light rain that blurred their vision slightly.

Yukimura raised a hand to his mouth, gasping dramatically. "It's Aoi!"

Sanada was flabbergasted. Aoi? The **CAPTAIN** OF **ROKKAKU**?! What the heck was he doing out here?! He was about to leap out of the bushes like a brave hero but Yukimura grasped his shoulder tightly, yanking him back. "Don't," Yukimura hissed angrily. "I wonder what he's waiting for?" Yukimura gasped slightly. "Or _who!_"

As if some unseen power was answering Yukimura's questions, the trees at the edge of the clearing shook. Yukimura's fingers tightened around Sanada's shoulder tightly. Aoi looked ecstatic. Sanada was confused.

"He's from Higa?" Yukimura grumbled.

Sanada felt full of anger and hate. Higa was a team of spineless cowards who hid behind their fists and were blinded by their bloodlust who cared more about numbers than they did the wellbeing of other teams. They were truly the most selfish, obnoxious, violent (also violet) of all the teams. And Sanada hated them!

They watched as the tall, skulking member of Higa walked across the clearing, arms outstretched to Aoi, and Aoi rushed forward and embraced the taller boy, who turned out to be… Yukimura made a grunting type of noise and sprang away from Sanada in surprise. Luckily, the couple didn't hear Yukimura's surprised outburst. Sanada stared at them, shocked. He couldn't even comprehend...what...

_What the heck was goin' on…?_

* * *

"I see the ship on the shore-!" Kaidoh exclaimed. He lowered his hands, which he had fashioned into makeshift telescopes. He looked own at Inui, who he was atop the shoulders of, and kicked against his torso. "Did you hear me, Inui-senpai? I see the ship!"

"Yes, I heard you Kaidoh," Inui said calmly. He lowered Kaidoh off of his shoulders and then adjusted his glasses. "It's amazing that Higa Chuu has ships. The last remnants of a navy."

"Is it?" Kaidoh asked. He hadn't really thought about it like that - wasn't it just a ship? "They don't use it, do they?"

"I didn't think so," Inui admitted.

Ryouma sighed, annoyed. He didn't give a shit about boats or anything. What he _did _give a shit about was _tennis, _and he really wanted to play some tennis right about now. He nudged Momo secretly as Seigaku plowed onwards. It had begun to rain, but that didn't seem to deter the captain from moving forward, his sights set on the S.S Higa.

"Hey," Ryouma whispered when Momo turned to him. "Let's go play tennis."

"No, Ryouma," Momo replied, shoving the smaller boy away. "We can't go play tennis."

"C'mon," Ryouma said, almost begging, but not really. The Prince of Tennis doesn't beg for anyone or anything. "I can't _not _play tennis, Momo-senpai."

"Don't call me senpai," Momo retorted before running a hand over his perfectly spiked hair, which was getting damp from the drizzling rain. "Maybe when we get Fuji back."

Ryouma turned away, pissed off that his once fun-loving senpai was now a stick in the mud that didn't want to play tennis ever. He just wanted to play some freakin' tennis.  
He looked down as he walked, stewing in his annoyance, when he collided with Tezuka, who had stopped suddenly.

"Captain-"

"SHHHH" Tezuka hushed, slapping a hand over Ryouma's big mouth. Ryouma struggled against his strong hold, but it was useless. Tezuka was just too built from all that tennis. "Do you hear that?"

The rest of Seigaku did _not _hear that. All they heard was the soft pattering of the rain on the plants around them and Kawamura's pants of breath, as he was getting winded from the journey.

"Wait," Inui said, voice now hushed as well. "Yes."

Kaidoh agreed wholeheartedly, nodding excitedly with wide eyes. "Me too!"

Ryouma thought they were all crazy. "I think you're all cra-"

He was cut off as something heavy slammed into his side and all of the wind in his lungs escaped him. He was thrown to the ground in a tackling movement, and the dirt started to soak into his jacket.

As the rest of Seigaku watched as a big purple blur slammed Ryouma to the ground, a ring of boys in purple, rugged uniforms encircled them.

Tezuka met the eyes of Kite with a glare. "Kite."

Kite didn't look particularly impressed with Tezuka. He gave the other captain a look over with a frown. "I'm surprised to see you, Tezuka."

"We're running into Seigaku a lot recently," Tanishi laughed, making a fist with his meaty hands. Seigaku was frozen in shock.

"You met Oishi?" Tezuka asked, his voice light.

"And his zombie boyfriend," Kite said bitingly. "And even though one of them was half-dead and the other one had psychotic written all over him, they still looked better than the rest of you. Strange, isn't it?"

"Let us through," Tezuka commanded. He wasn't going to sit around and let Kite, with his stupid body hugging purple tank top and perfectly styled hair, bully him. He took a step forward, and so did Kite. They were within arms reach of each other now, and Seigaku was holding their breath.

"Can't let you do that," Kite said, voice airy. He smiled, which was rare of him. His smile was cruel. "You're awfully close to our base, you know?"

"I'm aware."

"Then you know that we can't let you do that."

"I'm aware."

Kite looked amused. Tanishi let out a bellowing laugh. Rin, who had been the one to tackle Ryouma, laughed nastily from where he pinned Ryouma to the ground. Kite reached out, placing a hand on Tezuka's shoulder. Tezuka didn't even move. Seigaku tensed up immediately, reaching for this tennis rackets and getting prepared to fight in the only way they knew how - with tennis. Kite squeezed Tezuka's shoulder like they were chums. "Don't you think it's about time you left, Tezuk-"

"NO" Tezuka yelled before SLAMMING A FIST into Kite's face. Higa Chuu gasped. Seigaku gasped. Kite staggered backwards into Fukushi's arms, who looked horrified. Tezuka sprinted past the momentarily stunned Higa Chuu. "Come on!" He yelled to his teammates. Even Ryouma went, exhilarated by his captain's behavior, shoving off and leaving Rin sitting on the ground.

Kite coughed, wiping away the blood that had began to drip from his nose. "Tilt your head back," Fukushi said in a panicked voice, pressing the sleeve of his (Kite's) jacket against the blood. "Tilt your head back-"

"Follow them," Kite growled. He glared at each and every one of his teammates with such an intense hatred that it shocked even them. He looked around as Fukushi desperately tried to blot at the bleeding. "Where the _fuck_ is Chinen?"


	23. Chapter 23

If there was one thing Dan Taichi knew, it was that he was BORED. With a capital B. And a capital O, R, E, and D too.

He let out a massive sigh and rolled over onto his stomach. He was currently laid across a small couch in the house he and Akutsu had taken residence in as of late. It had once been a family's home, but now that family was gone so Dan didn't mind that much. He was pretty sure Akutsu actually killed them as they fought their way towards the house.

Speaking of the giant white tennis monster, Akutsu was sat in an armchair nearby. They ususally were sat like this, like a cozy little family in the living room. Akutsu had a pair of reading glasses on and he was flipping through an old newspaper that he had found in a neighboring houses' garbage can.

"I'm bored, desu," Dan huffed, peeking at Akutsu over the armrest of the couch.

Akutsu peered over the glasses at his kouhai. Of course, only Dan could be bored during the fucking zombie apocalypse. "Read a book or something."

"I've read all the books in this house. TWICE!"

Akutsu scowled. "Jesus Christ, I don't know, go play with the toys upstairs or something. I'm not here for your entertainment."

The toys, of course, were located in what was likely a child's bedroom. The two had barely touched them, but Akutsu mentioned them a lot. Dan wondered if maybe Akutsu secretly wished that there was a child with them sometimes. Dan bet that Akutsu was great with kids, and was really gentle. Once, when they were still travelling to get to their house, Akutsu had picked up a stray cat who had been injured and it had been the cutest thing Dan had ever seen. The cat died later, though. Akutsu was absolutely torn - he hadn't cried but Dan _knew. _Heck, he'd say that he knew his wonderful senpai more than anyone else did!

Anyway. Dan pouted, sending Akutsu a little half-hearted glare. "I don't play with _toys _anymore. I'm not a baby, desu..."

"Yes you are," Akutsu snapped back.

Dan sighed dramatically and rolled onto his back again. As he stared up at the ceiling and listened to the rustling of Akutsu's newspaper, he thought about Yamabuki.

He and Akutsu had left on their own accords, but recently Dan had been regretting it. He Could remember the day they left clearly...

* * *

"You're leaving?" Minami asked calmly. The captain had been playing a game of dominoes with Masami when Akutsu and Dan had burst into his captainy tent. Masami looked frazzled by their entrance. He wondered how their captain could remain so chill at moments like this!

Dan seemed to be leading the charge, as Akutsu held back, standing by the entrance with his arms crossed. It was a little awkward, since the tents weren't too tall, so Minami and Masami couldn't see his upper half, but he still had a serious presence there. Dan balled his little hands into fists and pressed his mouth into a line. He nodded twice, furiously, so furiously that his green headband bobbed in front of his eyes.

"Yes, desu!"

"Why the _hell _would you do that?!" Masami yelled. He felt a little bad for yelling at Dan, especially since he was so much smaller than everyone else virtually _ever, _but he was extremely angry. "Don't you know how dangerous it is out there?! Didn't you hear about Shitenhouji? Dan, they're DEAD because they tried to move around too much!"

Dan did not falter. "Maybe we can find a better place to live!"

"Doubtful," Masami snorted.

"Plus, I'm not much help here," Dan admitted, scratching bashfully at his neck. "I'm kind of weak, so I wanted Akutsu-senpai to teach me how to better defend and stuff against zombies, desu! When I get better, we can come back and be more helpful, right?"

"We need Akutsu here as it is," Masami said. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "We can't just let him go off with you for _months _just because you want to _train. _We could do that here, couldn't we?" He looked over at the captain, fully expecting his agreement, but was shocked to see the other jimi looking thoughtful about the whole situation. "Minami, you can't actually be-"

"I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to leave," Minami said before Masami could say any more. He looked very seriously at Dan (and at Akutsu's legs). "I can't control them. I think it might be beneficial. We can hold our own, Masami. Don't underestimate our team."

Dan looked overjoyed. Outside, Akutsu shifted in his position, and Minami assumed he was pretty pleased too. Masami was grumbling something under his breath angrily. "Minami-buchou!" Dan cried, launching forward and grasping his hands (and messing up the dominos game, much to Masami's continued despair). "Thank you soooo much for this! I promise we'll come back! And we'll be 14015000 times better than we are now, desu!"

Minami chuckled good heartedly and patted Dan on the back. "Yes, yes. I hope so."

* * *

Dan supposed it was all for naught, however. His leg had ended up getting seriously injured within the first week and Akutsu had been forced to bring Dan here, to this strange residential area in seemingly the middle of nowhere, and now Yamabuki was all in shambles. They hadn't been able to defend themselves after all. It probably would have been avoided had Akutsu been there.

Dan tilted his head back and looked at Akutsu, who had ditched the newspaper and was now staring at the younger boy with an unreadable look on his face. He scowled as soon as he met Dan's gaze. "What the hell are you thinking about? I don't like when you go all quiet."

"Yamabuki, desu," Dan said. Dan was always completely honest when it came to talking to Akutsu. Heck, he had seen what had happened to some of the people who had lied to Akutsu before. It just wasn't worth it!

"Quit it," was all Akutsu replied with. He was still looking at Dan with that uncertain expression, and Dan smiled brightly.

"You're thinking about them too, aren't you, desu?"

Akutsu turned slightly red and rubbed at his face, grumbling something Dan couldn't hear. Dan beamed at him - haha, caught him! "Shut up. Isn't it about time we make something to eat?" He stood up, slipping his reading glasses off. He walked over to the couch and ruffled Dan's hair. "C'mon, you're the only one who can fucking make a decent meal in this fucking country, we better put you to work."

Dan nodded excitedly and stood, hobbling after Akutsu on his one good leg towards the kitchen.

* * *

The immense size of Hyoutei's underground..._lab _thing blew Oishi's mind. Who knew that such an innocent looking church could have so much going on underneath? Just goes to show how much you really don't know about something until you really investigate it. Or something. Oishi was sure that there was a lesson in this.

The entirety of Hyoutei had gathered for this momentous occasion. Oishi looked nervously over at Eiji, whom Atobe had ordered Kabaji to hold. Eiji was still in the large man's arms, all limp and looking just like a corpse with his rotting flesh and empty eyes. It wasn't like Oishi hadn't seen him like that numerous times before, but it was still horrible.

Atobe put his hands on his hips after they entered the large viewing surgical area that the Seigaku regulars had stumbled upon just a few moments before. Shintarou's body had been quickly disposed of from the operating table, but there were still faint blood stains on the linoleum around it. Of course, Oishi had no way of knowing that it was Shintarou's blood. He simply looked at it for a few moments before shrugging it off. It made sense that Hyoutei had been operating on squishy, bloody zombies. If they hadn't, how could they ever possibly get a cure to zombism?

He turned to Oishi with a large smile. "I'd go up there, with them, if I were you." He was pointing at the large viewing area around the top of the room. Several Hyoutei members were already standing up there, clipboards in hand and masks on their faces. Oishi wasn't close enough to see who each of the members were, but it's not like he knew them that well anyway. He nodded. He suddenly felt a weird anxious feeling when he gave Eiji one last look. The boy still wasn't moving, which worried Oishi - maybe Kite had accidentally killed him when he smacked him with the handle of his sword? He didn't even want to _think _about it.

With one last anxious glance, he headed towards the large bay windows leading to the staircase to the viewing area. Before he entered, Hiyoshi gave Oishi a pair of gloves and a surgical mask with an impatient glare. Oishi supposed this was for medical reasons. He put them on before getting closer to the viewing windows. He sidled up against Choutarou, arguably the friendliest Hyoutei member, who gave him a nod before returning to scratching quick notes on the various forms he had on his clipart.

Now the only two people down by the operating table were Kabaji and Atobe. Eiji was there too, but he's not really a person. He's a zombie. Atobe made a grand movement to put his gloves on, making sure to be as dramatic and flashy as he could with it. Oishi looked briefly at Choutarou. "Is he doing the operation himself?"

Choutarou looked at Oishi excitedly with a nod. "Of course! Atobe-san's really impressive. With a blade."

Oishi stared at him for a few moments before clearing his throat. "Why does Eiji need surgery again?" Oishi asked, the anxious feeling in his stomach not going away. Down in the operating area, Atobe was rearranging the various tools on his little side table.

"To make sure he still has all his vital organs." Choutarou brought his pen up to his mouth, pausing in what he was writing, before returning to it. "The cure we made doesn't work unless they have all their organs still working properly. It has to pass through your system, after all. Most zombies don't retain all their working parts, is all. It's just a test."

Oishi nodded, still uneasy despite the promising explanation. Hyoutei sure did seem to know what they were doing, especially since they were all...what? 14? But Oishi still had some doubts...

He watched as Kabaji gently lay Eiji down on the table and began to strap him down. A crackling of a speaker sounded, and then Atobe's very smug voice followed. "Hello, Hyoutei plus one. I hope you are all ready to watch a _miracle _happen."

Someone amongst the Hyoutei members muttered something sourly back, but otherwise they stood in anticipated silence.

After Eiji was properly strapped in, Kabaji stepped back and towards the doors they had originally entered through. He did not exit, however, but instead stood there with his arms crossed.

_It must be for security, _Oishi guessed. _In case the zombies-_

He stopped himself. He didn't want to think about Eiji doing anything bad. Eiji would probably thank him later. No, he _would. _Eiji would be overjoyed to be alive once again.

Atobe finally picked up a blade from the table and beamed up at his observers. "I will make the first incision," he declared over the crackly speakers. The tension in the room rose as everyone grew closer to the window to get a better look. Oishi was almost too hesitant to look himself.

The first few minutes were relatively uneventful. The only noises that anyone was making were the rustlings of papers and the tapping of pens against clipboards. It was a stifling kind of noise, because Oishi felt like his egg-shaped head was getting holded into a spherical shaped head, ya dig? Like he was being compressed. He almost wished Atobe would say something stupidly smug over the loudspeakers to at least break the silence.

Then something _did _happen. Eiji made a thrashing movement on the table. Luckily, Atobe was not knuckle deep in Eiji's insides when he did it, but it still startled Hyoutei's captain also head surgeon. A loud screech sounded over the loudspeakers as Eiji shouted loudly. Oishi was basically pressed against the glass, horribly shocked at the sight of his doubles partner turned zombie partner moving so violently. This was not one of his good days.

"It was stupid of Atobe not to use anaesthetics..." Oshitari murmured, with a chorus of agreeing murmurs following. "Why didn't he use them?"

Oishi looked over at them. "Was he supposed to?"

Nobody paid him any mind. "Maybe he forgot?" Gakuto wondered aloud.

"He didn't use any on that Shitenhouji boy, either," Taki mumbled, chewing on the end of his pen thoughtfully. "I don't see the problem."

"We can't waste it," Shishido agreed.

Oshitari shrugged. "Just something I noticed." He then returned to writing down his observations.

Oishi could barely hear them. _No anaesthetics? _was all he could think. _Atobe wouldn't forget anaesthetics! Nobody would! They're very important-_

The loudspeakers were crackling with noise as Atobe quickly recovered and calmly retrieved a syringe from his side table. Kabaji was saying something, but he was too far away from where Oishi guessed the microphone was to hear. Atobe handwaved him though, making a disgruntled face. He quickly jabbed the syringe into Eiji's thigh, pumping the liquid within into Eiji's system. Eiji's movements slowed almost instantly, and the Hyoutei members around Oishi began scribbling notes furiously.

When did they all become massive geeks? Sigh.

Atobe's voice sounded over the loudspeaker again. "Not to worry, gentlemen. It seems he's feeling the effects almost instantly. It should be fine-"

Faintly, Oishi could hear Eiji's voice crying out painfully. He froze as he filtered out Atobe's loud medical speech to listen to Eiji's faint calls. Eiji was calling his name repeatedly, begging to be let go. He was asking to be saved! He wanted help! And Atobe was obviously trying to cover it up with his own voice. And it was making Oishi MAD!

"We need to stop this!" Oishi said frantically, turning towards Choutarou. The gray-haired boy blinked at him, wide-eyed, as if Oishi was speaking some foreign language to him. "Can't you hear him? He's yelling for help! Atobe obviously did something wrong!"

"Atobe didn't do anything _wrong,_" Choutarou said, astonished. "He's done everything right. Oishi, he's just a zombie."

Oishi couldn't believe his ears! "He's not just a zombie! Can't you hear Eiji?! He still feels pain! He's still partly human!"

Choutarou didn't look deterred. Oishi looked back at the scene unfolding below. Eiji was growing slower and slower on the table. Now Oishi realized why he was feeling so anxious about the operation - they weren't treating Eiji like a patient, or even a human - they were treating him like he was some mindless zombie! No anaesthetics, Oishi's ass. They weren't treating him like a human who was infected - they were treating him like he was totally, 100% a zombie!

Oishi had seen enough. With a graceful swan dive, he smashed out of the window, sending glass scattering everywhere down below. With a beautiful soumersault in the air, he landed his fall elegantly. Unknown to most, he had indeed picked up several acrobatics skills from his doubles partner towards the end of their career. Also he was just elegant like a ballerina. Bitchess.s..ssss.

Everyone in Hyoutei was staring at him in horror. He had just busted their windows.

"Oishi, you busted my window," Atobe said, gawking like a stupid goldfish. That's what he was. A stupid goldfish.

But the old Seigaku regular paid him no mind. He ran over to Eiji, who was now dusted in small glass shards, and grasped his hand, which was still seizing despite his body basically being immobile. "Eiji," Oishi breathed when the boy finally looked his way. "Eiji!"

"Nya," Eiji mumbled.

"This is highly against protocol," Atobe sputtered, turning red in the face. "Oishi, I must ask you to leave the room at once-"

"Not until you get him some proper operating conditions!" Oishi exclaimed. "I was once training to become a doctor, you know. Even though I forgot at first, it all came back to me. I should have known as soon as I came in here that you weren't going to treat him like a human."

Atobe let out a cautious chuckle. "Oishi, he's not _human_. That's why he's getting a _cure_-"

"Get. Him. Better. Conditions," Oishi said through gritted teeth. His poor doubles partner had been through so much already, it was all Oishi could do to get him at least a comfortable place to be operated on! "Or I'll leave and your testing of the vaccine will never be finished!"

Though Atobe could have said something like "we could just get you infected" or "we could just kill you right here", but he didn't. He was perfectly aware of what Oishi was saying - the surgery wasn't in an entirely safe area. It wasn't like they had actual medical equiptment, like heart monitors or anything. Hell, they were only teenagers, and Atobe wasn't sure he could just go out and buy some things now. They had had to make due with what they had. It wasn't like Atobe was trying to be cruel. He wasn't a bad guy!

Okay, he was a little bit of a bad guy. But either way, he swallowed back his pride and nodded at Oishi. "Fine. We'll sew him back up and retry this tomorrow in better conditions. Agreed?"

Oishi, still skeptical, had to take the offer. He nodded and looked down at his doubles parter, who's hand had gone limp in his own. _Soon, _Oishi thought as Atobe began to work on getting Eiji back together. _Soon we will be Seigaku's Golden Pair again!_

* * *

Tezuka leaned against a tree, panting heavily. Seigaku had veered off into the woods, off of the footpath that he assumed led to Higa Chuu's base of operations. The rest of his team was there with him, also panting from the extreme exercise they had just been put through. Despite being star athletes, they felt the burn.

Their captain had led them off the path as the night had fallen and the rain had begun to fall heavier. He knew that they would be at least slightly hidden in the forest during this time, so he took advantage of the situation. Unfortunately, he was fully aware that if he led Seigaku further into the woods they would get lost, but if they stayed there too long, Higa Chuu would undoubtedly discover them.

"Buchou," Momo managed through his heavy breathing, looking up at his captain with a proud expression. "I can't believe you punched him."

The rest of the team agreed through their pants. They probably would have exclaimed their agreement had they had the energy, but they didn't. Sad. Tezuka was kind of glad, though - he wasn't in the mood for such excitement.

Ryouma nodded, fanning himself with his hat. He was still all muddy from getting tackled by Rin - he would definitely definitely never forgive the blonde for doing that to his Seigaku uniform. Though Ryouma acted cool and aloof most of the time, he really valued his Seigaku pride. That includes his jersey. "You were really cool, buchou."

Again, everyone muttered their agreement. Though Tezuka was happy for their compliments, it was really not the time for compliments. "Thank you, but we should keep moving as soon as possible - it'd be best to break through the Higa camp at a time like this - when it's still raining. We won't be heard as easily."

"I hope we don't get caught," Kawamura murmured nervously. Everyone could agree on that. Everyone was in a very agreeable mood tonight.

Inui coughed quietly. They all stood in silence for a few moments, listening through the rain for any sounds of movement. There didn't appear to be any, zombie or Higa related, which calmed Tezuka slightly. "Maybe we could stay here for a little longer," he admitted. The team seemed relieved at the suggestion. Ryouma even took a seat on a stump.

Tezuka carefully felt at his elbow as the rest of the team relaxed slightly. Inui looked at Tezuka carefully as he settled against a tree and pulled out his notebook, which he had strapped to his midsection at all times. You never knew when you needed some data. Kaidoh sat next to him with a contemplative expression. He knew there was data about to go down.

"Does your elbow hurt, Tezuka?"

Tezuka flinched at Inui's question. He quickly took his hand away from his arm and shrugged, looking away. "Not particularly."

Inui hummed under his breath. Kaidoh looked at him curiously. The dataman was not writing anything down, like he had expected him to. Perhaps there was no new data from his encounter. Kaidoh felt himself being a little disappointed despite his disinterest in total nerd activities.

"Quiet," Kawamura suddenly warned. Everyone drew quiet, listening carefully. Especially Tezuka. He wouldn't have his team harmed because of his suggestion of staying in one place for a little while.

Indeed, there were wet footsteps sounding on the footpath. However, it only sounded like one pair, and they were running rather noisily - Tezuka scowled as he heard them grow closer. It was truly unlikely that it was someone who _wasn't _looking for them, so it confused him as to why they weren't being quieter...more stealthy...

In a flash, the scariest looking (debatably) Higa member, Chinen, sped past, not even looking around him. Seigaku let out a collective sigh of relief as his footsteps faded again in the distance. Momo let his tennis racket, which he had been holding up offensively, drop to his feet with a clatter.

"Why wasn't he looking for us?" Ryouma wondered aloud what everyone else was thinking.

"He wasn't there when we were confronted," Inui said, recalling their explosive meeting with Higa Chuu. Kaidoh thought too, trying to match his data remembering mind with his senpais. Indeed, he didn't recall the skunk-haired boy being there when Tezuka punched the everloving shit out of Kite. Inui adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps he doesn't know."

"Why wasn't he there, though?" Momo asked. That's what we're _all _asking, Momo. Okay not really but that's what Seigaku was asking, anyway.

As if answers were just being handed to them, they heard another set of footsteps shortly after Chinen had disappeared. They were immediately on edge again, prepared to take down whoever it was that was coming down the path. This time, the footsteps were slow and careful, like they didn't want to be heard. But Seigaku heard. They were READY.

But they weren't _that _ready. They totally weren't prepared to see Yukimura and Sanada creeping down the path in very casual clothes that nobody in Seigaku ever expected to see them in. What the hell were they doing so close to Higa Chuu, anyway?! And thank GOD they were alive! Tezuka nearly shed a tear when he saw their faces.

"Psst," Tezuka hissed through the trees. Sanada nearly leapt out of his clothes, he was so startled. Yukimura was less so. He looked over with wide eyes towards the trees. Tezuka frowned. "Psssssst!"

"Seigaku?" Yukimura said, voice full of surprise. Sanada was still shaken. _Seigaku? _Yukimura pushed through the trees, getting a few little scrapes on his arms from the branches and getting damp from the wet leaves, but he didn't seem to care. Sanada let out a pained noise at the sight of Yukimura getting cuts, so he followed his captain in to attempt to move the branches away before Yukimura could get any more cut. Yukimura brushed his damp hair back when he came face to face with Tezuka. "Tezuka."

"It's good to see you're alright," Tezuka said, shaking Yukimura's hand. Despite being such a feminine boy, Yukimura had possibly the manliest handshake of any tennis player ever. Tezuka gave Yukimura and Sanada a onceover. "You certainly look...comfy." Yukimura continued to smile. It was obvious that neither Rikkai member was all too pleased with the situation. Tezuka instantly regretted mentioning it. "Why are you two out here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Sanada said gruffly, obviously attempting to remain his cool attitude despite being very damp and wearing stupid yellow flipflops. He was glad he had decided to wear a jacket over his silly t-shirt that he had gotten when he was basically a babby. It had a duck on it. I mean c'mon Sanada.

Yukimura on the other hand was willing to ditch his captainy pride to gossip with the (almost) entirety of Seigaku. "Chinen and Aoi are _dating_," he half whispered, half gasped. Tezuka made a face and the rest of Seigaku made several sounds of various meaning.

Ryouma in particular was looking the most disgruntled by this. He looked at Momo. "Dating?"

"Aoi from _Rokkaku_?" Momo asked.

Yukimura nodded. "I know, right?"

"Aren't they mortal enemies?" Kaidoh asked. That's what his and Inui's data had said, anyway. And despite his lack of affection for the mega nerd, he trusted the data. Data never lied, apparently.

Sanada was not feeling this gossip session. He scowled at Tezuka. "What are you doing here? You're quite far from your school."

"We're getting Fuji back," was all Tezuka said.

Yukimura looked over his shoulder at Sanada, who looked at him briefly before looking away. Yukimura turned back to Tezuka with a determined expression. "We'll help you."

Sanada's expression immediately changed into one of pure shock. He looked at the back of Yukimura's head with wide eyes. "We're doing what?"

"We don't need your help," Tezuka muttered.

That was the truth, too. More numbers meant more chance of success if they were caught, Tezuka supposed, but more numbers also meant a greater chance of being caught. Either way, it wasn't really a benefit to having Yukimura and Sanada join them.

Yukimura shook his head, not taking no for an answer. He smiled serenely at Tezuka, and it reminded the captain a little too much of Fuji to make him comfortable. "See, we've outlasted our stay with Rokkaku and we would love nothing more than to join your little...excursion."

"Seiichi," Sanada hissed. "What about getting back to our _team_?"

"They can wait," Yukimura retorted snappily, flashing Sanada a look over his shoulder. "Right?"

Sanada sighed defeatedly. "I guess."

And that's how Seigaku's journey to get Fuji back became not just Seigaku, but Seigaku +2. Truly there was going to be an epic beatdown if they ran into any Higa problems.


	24. Chapter 24

A zombie fell over, dead. Well, dead again.

Tachibana watched as Chitose sent off a few shots from within the safe confines of Fudomine's walls. The gaps in the fence were big enough for tennis balls to soar through, though that hadn't been tested until Chitose had shown up a few weeks prior.

Tachibana hadn't questioned it. And he certainly wasn't going to question it now, when Chitose's eyes were blank and he was absently taking out zombie after zombie with quick, clean hits with his racket. He hadn't noticed Tachibana yet, possibly because Tachibana was skulking in the shadows and he was wearing his dark uniform.

"Senri," Tachibana finally spoke up, as he walked over to the Shitenhouji member.

Chitose flinched, surprised by Tachibana's presence, but didn't say anything. His expression changed from one of chilling blankness to a more relaxed one, one that Tachibana more attributed to the tan boy. With a sigh, he let his racket fall to his side and he wiped at his forehead. "It's hot here," he said lightly as Tachibana took stand beside him, looking at the zombies Chitose had killed.

Tachibana sniffed. "If you hate it so much, then go back to Shitenhouji."

With a frown, Chitose rolled his shoulders back and rubbed at them. Tachibana gauged his response. When Chitose had first arrived, there had been something significantly _off _about him. He wouldn't answer most of Fudomine's questions (though he did reassure Tachibana and An that Miyuki was not in any danger) and he dodged the team entirely for a few days before finally joining them for meals. Rumors had spread around the team that Chitose was infected and was acting strangely because of it. There was also whispers that Shitenhouji had mysteriously disappeared and that Chitose had killed them all, but Tachibana was quick to quell his teammates gossip. Especially the whole 'Chitose is a murderer' theory.

But at the same time, Chitose's behavior worried him. His normally aloof, thoughtful friend had become tense and absentminded. There were few things that would put Chitose in that kind of mindset, and Tachibana, unfortunately, assumed the worst, and though he cared, he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.

"When are you going to tell me what happened?" Tachibana asked after a few moments.

Chitose let out a soft laugh. His expression softened with sadness for a brief moment before it disappeared. "Not sure."

Tachibana smiled despite the uneasy feeling in his gut. "That's fine. Fudomine's happy to have you." He paused. "Me, too."

The other boy didn't respond. He was looking where Tachibana had been looking - at the zombies outside of the gate. Weird.

* * *

"Is that the base?" Momo shoved Kaidoh's ugly snake face out of his way so he could get a better look through the trees. Kaidoh let out an angered "asshole", but the insult went unnoticed as the team (plus Yukimura and Sanada) took a look. A series of huts sprawled out on the clearing was just ahead of them, and were illuminated in the darkness by rows of torches.

"Wow!" Yukimura whistled, impressed by Higa Chuu's ability to make such a...well, a relatively livable community. He looked at Sanada. "They're really something."

"Do you really plan on taking them on just to get your teammate back?" Sanada asked, voice grave. He could barely see how this would work out in their favor. I mean, cmon, six Seigaku regulars against like a gajillion Higa Chuu members? Even though Seigaku were an underdog force to be reckoned with, they certainly had the odds stacked against them.

Tezuka shot Sanada a look that said "don't even" and Sanada shut up. Inui was looking through his notebook since it had stopped raining, finally, and he hadn't wanted to get his notebook all soggy. "We have a 1.1% chance getting through Higa Chuu unnoticed," he announced. He scribbled some more numbers and nerdy data things onto the page. "That means there's a 98.9% chance of confrontation."

"I could have told you that," Ryouma muttered. Even he could do simple math and use common sense. He didn't need to be a nerd for it.

"It's inevitable," Momo snickered despite the situation and looked up at Tezuka. "Buchou punched Kite in the frickin' face."

Yukimura and Sanada both looked at Tezuka with the same look of "wtf". "You punched Kite?"

Tezuka adjusted his glasses.

"I don't think Kite and all them have returned yet..." Kawamura said, peering over Kaidoh and Momo. He was stuck in the waaaay back so he couldn't see the camp that well, but Kawamura was good at knowing things. "They're probably looking for us."

"If Kite is looking for us despite the state buchou left him in, then he's an idiot," Ryouma spat. "He can't play tennis like that."

"Echizen," Momo said after a few moments of silence. "I don't really think this is about tennis right now..."

Ryouma shot him an angry, wild glare. Momo was taken aback by "It's _always _about tennis."

True that, little man. Anyway, it was about time that they infiltrated the Higa Base. Tezuka was willing to risk the 1.1% of getting through the camp unnoticed, though he knew it was almost impossible to do so. They had gotten pretty far into the camp and were surprised to find most of the huts empty, or at least very silent inside.

"This is weird," Ryouma whispered as the team sloshed through the mud. "There's nobody here."

The team was probably out and looking for them, Tezuka thought. _Kite's group must have come back and told the rest_, he thought.

Yukimura came up beside Tezuka, looking suspicious. "If you think Kite came back to tell the rest, I wonder..."

Tezuka didn't have the time or the patience to ask how Yukimura knew what he was thinking, because a suspicious Yukimura was not a good Yukimura. "What do you mean?"

A figure walked out of a hut just ahead of them, startling the entire team (+2). Of course, Tezuka cursed himself mentally. In the clearing stood Chinen, looking confused despite his normal blank expression. Chinen arrived late after...after...

"His date with Aoi!" Sanada said a little too loudly. How the heck were these people reading Tezuka's mind like that?!

Regardless of Rikkai's apparent telepathy, Chinen had heard them. He looked directly at them, even though they were trying very hard to hide. It was kind of embarrassing. Even though they could easily take Chinen down and make sure he didn't have the power to do anything about their presence, it was just...awkward. Nobody moved for a few seconds.

The Higa Chuu member looked as unsure of what to do as Seigaku did. His mouth opened and then closed. Then he spoke. "Hello."

Kawamura let out a peep of fright. Tezuka nodded briskly, because he needed to keep up his captainy diplomacy despite being in enemy territory. "Good evening."

"..." Chinen looked around for a moment. Nobody was really sure what to do. Ryouma looked like he was itching for a tennis match, his fingers twitching around the handle of his racket. Momo whispered 'no' to him very harshly, this wasn't the time to play a match. They didn't even have a tennis court in their little camp. Shameful tbh.

Yukimura suddenly stepped forward, tugging Sanada along with him. "Hiroshi Chinen?" He said. He also had to keep up his captainy diplomacy, but he always did, so whatever. "Please give us a tour of your camp."

Sanada looked shocked. "Wha-"

Chinen's eyes narrowed and his gaze darted between Sanada and Yukimura. "What the hell is going on here? Where is Kite?"

"Show us around, or I'll tell your captain about your rendezvous with Rokakku's Aoi Kentarou," Yukimura said, a devillish twinkle in his eyes. "I'm sure Kite wouldn't approve of you..._romancing _the enemy." Chinen paled. So did Sanada. Such ruthlessness from his delicate looking captain-!

Chinen looked grimly at Seigaku before nodding reluctantly, turning away. "Follow me."

Yukimura threw Tezuka a thumbs up before following Chinen away. Sanada stood there, dumbfounded, before following his captain.

Tezuka couldn't believe it. Neither could any other Seigaku member. Who would have guessed that Yukimura and Sanada would have actually been USEFUL?

The captain of Seigaku set his jaw. Just past the small camp was...the shore. If that meant what he thought it meant, it meant that Fuji was so close that he could almost taste him. Not that he would know what Fuji tasted like. It's just a figure of speech. He fisted his hands up and, with a new boost of confidence, led his regulars out of the camp and back into the trees. Hopefully, their journey to rescue their friend would be over soon.

* * *

Akutsu somehow found himself back at Yamabuki.

He was annoyed that he even let himself wander that far from Dan back at their little - ugh - _house, _and even more annoyed that it even bothered him. He pursed his lips grumpily as he swaggered into camp like he owned the place.

Sengoku burst out of seemingly nowhere, grappling to Akutsu's arm. "Akutsu! What are you doing here?"

Akutsu shook him off with a frustrated grunt. "Get off of me."

The rest of the Yamabuki team wandered out of their tents. Despite Rikkai clearing out their school, they had opted to remain outside - half because Minami was still healing and half because it was just easier to stay outside at this point. Minami, however, appeared to be feeling better than he had last time Akutsu had shown up. He even got out of his tent to greet him.

"I didn't ask for this fuckin' welcoming party," Akutsu growled as the team nearly circled around him, as if waiting for him to say something. He had nothing to say.

"We didn't ask you to come back," Kita sniffed.

"And we didn't _want _you to, either," Nitobe huffed.

Sengoku frowned. "Ignore them. What's up, Akutsu? Look, Rikkai left! We're taking care of ourselves now. And it's going great, because I'm here, and as you know I'm...very _lucky_."

Indeed, Rikkai had gotten up and left. They had decided it was time for them to leave the miserable atmosphere of Yamabuki and go back to the slightly less miserable atmosphere of St. Rudolph. Akustu was glad. He hated those Rikkai assholes almost as much as he hated everyone else.

"Great," he said. He was 100% genuine with those words, but it was hard for him to not sound grisled and angry about most things. "I don't know why I came back here. I just ended up here."

The team stood awkwardly. Akutsu knew what they were going to say, so he didn't let them say it. "I'm leaving."

"You can't leave so soon," Sengoku whined. "You just got here!"

"I say let him leave! Traitorous bastard!" Kite howled.

"Not just a traitorous one, either, just a bastard in general!" Nitobe crowed.

"How is Dan?"

Akutsu looked over at his (now) ex-captain. Despite Akutsu leaving the team, Minami still had that captain air around him that he couldn't help but respect despite his disrespect for most other things. Like Sengoku. The Yamabuki captain was still mostly wrapped up by bandages around the middle and had his green jacket lightly hanging off of his shoulders.

He scowled (or at least moreso than he normally did), but hoped nobody noticed. It's not like he meant to. He ususally kept a pretty good hold of his normal scowl. Minami seemed to take notice anyway, much to Akutsu's despair. Minami led Akutsu into his tent with Masami trailing behind as Kita, Nitobe and Sengoku had a yelling match.

Minami let out a breath of pain as he sat down inside the tent. Akutsu sat down facing him, and leaned forward, looking at his old captain. The boy looked like he had aged ten years after his injury. Akutsu wondered if he looked older too, but then he decided he didn't want to look any older because then he'd look elderly. Like 80. "So," Minami started. Masami sidled in, casting an annoyed look at Akutsu as he scooched past him. "Dan."

"Dan," Akutsu grunted.

"Is he okay?" Minami's voice was full of genuine concern; it made Akutsu sick.

"Of course he's okay," Akutsu said. "He's probably better than okay."

"That's good."

Akutsu wondered if it was okay to spill the deets to Minami and Masami. Though they really had no authority over what Akutsu did anymore, he wouldn't put it past them to try to go to the house to see Dan and try to get him back. But honestly, Dan was...ugh, _worrying _Akutsu, and it was hard not to show those feelings. It's not like he could tell the kid about it.

"I think he's doing _too _okay," Akutsu admitted after a few seconds of deliberation. "He's exactly like he always was. It's like the zombie infection don't affect the kid or anything." He clenched his fingers on his legs. He wished he had a cigarette, despite it probably not being a good idea to smoke in the tent. "He's injured. He can barely walk. We wandered into a neighborhood or something and he fucking...he tried to distract this hoard of zombies from me when I was getting overwhelmed. He's fucking crazy. I don't know why he would do something like that. I can take care of myself without some brat taking the heat. I had to take each of them out and when I did, I found the kid underneath all of them, all beat up and bleeding really badly from his leg. I had to break into a house and patch him up, and now it's like we're living there."

Minami didn't interrupt. Masami looked like he wanted to, but Akutsu kept going. "And he's fucking fine. He acts like nothing happens. The worst thing that happens to him is that he gets _bored. _That's really fucked up. How can the kid be so fucking optimistic during the zombie apocalypse? When he can barely _walk?_"

Akutsu felt drained. It's not like he normally talked that much about anything, really. Plus, he never really opened up to Minami (and especially not Masami). It's not like they were Kawamura or anything.

Masami's mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish's, but he wasn't making any noise. Minami looked thoughtful, his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he was smiling calmly. "Dan's probably alright because he's with you."

Akutsu made a face and Minami laughed. "You know that if he were here and you weren't, he would be miserable. I can't even imagine it, actually. He thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread, so just being around you is probably brightening his life despite how awful the situation may be."

Akutsu made another face. This is not what he had come here to listen to, and he wasn't goign to listen to any more of Minami's gross implications. "I'm leaving," he said gruffly. Minami didn't make any move to stop him, and Akutsu thanked God for that. As he exited the tent he could hear Masami whispering things like 'how could we let Dan go with him?' and 'we have to go save the poor kid' furiously. The rest of the team noticed his reappearance and rushed over, but he merely ignored them and made off into the zombie-licious wasteland again.

He didn't really think about much as he headed back to his and Dan's house. He took out a few zombies on the way just for good measure, and even smashed one of their skulls with his boot. It was satisfying.

When he opened the door, he was instantly met with a greeting and a waving hand from the doorway to the living room where Dan was relaxing. As he took off his blood-and-gore soaked boots, he found himself feeling a little more upbeat than he had felt before, though he'd never admit it. Never. And though he'd definitely never, EVER, nEVER EVER admit it, he even smiled a little when he tousled the stupid, happy kid's hair when he walked into the living room. But you didn't hear that from me.


End file.
